Clockwise from prime left: Charley Hull, Nelly Korda, Rory McIlroy, Rose Zhang, Stacy Lewis and Jon Rahm.
Getty Photographs
Welcome to the Monday End, the place we’re nonetheless ready for golf’s “offseason” to hit. Possibly subsequent week? To the information…
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GOLF STUFF I LIKE
The loneliness of the sector.
As Rory McIlroy walked up the 18th fairway at Royal County Down on Sunday afternoon, hundreds lined the outlet, Irish lads and lasses, shouting encouragement, filling within the fairway behind him, hoping to raise him to a miracle end. McIlroy had simply suffered great misfortune when his chief competitors, Rasmus Højgaard, had holed a bunker shot at No. 17 for an extremely unlikely birdie. McIlroy then introduced additional ache on himself, three-putting from 25 ft at No. 17 simply minutes later. His two-shot lead from an hour earlier than was out of the blue gone, now remodeled to a two-shot deficit with one gap to play. The spherical wasn’t but over however already you possibly can really feel echoes of McIlroy’s high-profile near-misses passed by. His three-putt at 17 echoed his three-putt at No. 16 on the U.S. Open earlier this summer time. The throngs of Northern Irish followers urging him alongside echoed the cries of those that’d tried to hold him in useless to a missed lower at Royal Portrush a half-decade in the past.
McIlroy’s solely remaining hope was to eagle the par-5 18th to drive a playoff, and so he pummeled the longest drive of the day, some 345 yards down the golf green. After which he walked within the route of that drive, balancing the shell-shock of what had simply occurred with the dedication to make one thing nonetheless occur, to supply one thing that might ship the gang dwelling completely satisfied. The announcer, splendidly understated, supplied the proper evaluation.
“Someway seems lonely, amidst all that assist,” he stated.
I considered that line the remainder of {the golfing} day. This week’s Irish Open and Solheim Cup felt notably convivial, like occasions for {the golfing} collective, finest skilled collectively. In County Down, simply 30 miles from McIlroy’s Northern Irish hometown, followers rallied round their native {golfing} hero at their native {golfing} paradise as he chased what he stated could be “up there with one of many greatest” wins of his life. In Virginia, simply 30 miles from the nation’s capital, crowds rallied round their U.S. workforce as they chased redemption, trying to recapture the cup for the primary time in 4 tries. However principally that togetherness was taking place outdoors the sphere of play. The followers, the households, the groups, the rooters. Contained in the ropes? In case you have been the golfer in that place, there have been whole tournaments and even whole mini-economies leveraged on what you, the person, did down the stretch. Sixteen or seventeen holes of excellent swings solely elevates the strain on the ultimate few. It was lonely as ever. And that’s partly why it was particular.
This loneliness isn’t the solely fantastic thing about golf; there are others. There’s the basic fantastic thing about Royal County Down, final linksland, arguably finest on the earth, set dramatically on the assembly of land and sea and hill. There’s the strategic fantastic thing about workforce match play, who to pair and how one can play off one another. However principally the great thing about golf is the great thing about particular person competitors below the gun, of stepping contained in the ropes and leaving your self susceptible to the euphoria of a heroic win (assume Lilia Vu‘s putt on 17 and her strategy on 18, or Hojgaard’s hole-out at 17 and birdie at 18) or the devastation of a heartbreaking loss (assume McIlroy’s eagle putt, hanging out extensive). The loneliness is the purpose.
Teddy Roosevelt‘s been quoted one million instances in sportswriting; one million and one gained’t damage. In his iconic speech in regards to the Man within the Enviornment, he described that man on this manner: “…who at the most effective is aware of in the long run the triumph of excessive achievement, and who on the worst, if he fails, at the very least fails whereas daring tremendously, in order that his place shall by no means be with these chilly and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.“
The triumph of excessive achievement and, even in failure, the pleasure that comes with daring tremendously — that’s golf stuff I like.
WINNERS
Who gained the week?
The U.S. workforce gained the Solheim Cup 15.5-12.5, triumphing for the primary time in 4 cups and 7 years.
Rasmus Hojgaard gained the Irish Open, the most important of his 5 profession DP World victories, climbing to No. 63 on the earth and making certain he can be a part of his brother Nicolai on the PGA Tour subsequent season.
Patton Kizzire gained the Procore Championship, the primary occasion of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Fall, incomes his first victory in six years and worthwhile PGA Tour standing within the course of.
Jon Rahm gained LIV’s Chicago occasion in addition to LIV’s season-long order of benefit, ending off a formidable debut season with top-10s in each occasion that he completed (a dozen top-10s plus one WD).
Steve Stricker gained the Sanford Worldwide for the third consecutive season, hitting the flagstick on the fourth playoff gap to arrange a profitable birdie.
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NOT-WINNERS
Who didn’t win?
In case you’re searching for ultimate type pre-Presidents Cup, right here’s how the six rivals in motion at this week’s Procore fared:
Mackenzie Hughes completed T4, together with a second-place exhibiting in strokes gained from tee to inexperienced; that’s encouraging.
Corey Conners was T7 simply behind his countryman; he was second within the area off the tee and gained strokes placing, each encouraging indicators forward of subsequent week.
Min Woo Lee, the third and ultimate Worldwide teamer, completed T32, let down by a chilly putter on the weekend.
For the Individuals, Sahith Theegala completed T7, his second robust event in a row, and gained strokes in each class.
The excellent news stopped there. Max Homa missed the lower by a shot; he wanted birdie on the par-5 18th to make the weekend and made bogey as an alternative. Wyndham Clark completed three pictures behind Homa.
SHORT HITTERS
The very best and worst from the Solheim Cup, briefly.
The very best on the U.S. facet? There have been lots of contenders. Rose Zhang was 4-0-0 and smashed statistical information for probably the most dominant exhibiting. Lauren Coughlin continued the fairytale season of her life and dealt with the strain of her dwelling Cup, going 3-0-1. And regardless that she misplaced her singles session Nelly Korda performed three workforce periods of practically flawless golf and appeared extra relaxed than we’ve seen her on the course. That was due to Megan Khang, who went 3-0-0 and was the fiery emotional middle of the workforce, too. Shoutout to Andrea Lee, too, who went 2-0-1.
The very best on the Euro facet? Charley Hull will get that title; she performed all 5 periods and beat Korda main off Sunday singles. Just one different participant — Madelene Sagstrom, who went 2-1-0 — had a profitable document, although Celine Boutier, Anna Nordqvist and Georgia Corridor every went 2-2-0.
The worst on the U.S. facet? It was a disappointing week for Ally Ewing, who went 0-4-0 and has now sadly misplaced seven consecutive Solheim Cup matches. And Lexi Thompson‘s good Solheim Cup end slid by when she misplaced her singles match at No. 18, capping off a 1-3-0 week. All good in victory, although.
The worst on the European facet got here from Linn Grant, who was a surprising 0-4-0 after going 3-2-0 in her debut final yr. Carlota Ciganda additionally couldn’t fairly get going and slipped to 1-3-0 on the week. However even worse than that was the strife and second-guessing that comes with any shedding workforce; on this case Leona Maguire, who entered in middling type however with a 7-2-1 Solheim document, was understandably gutted to play simply one of many 4 workforce periods and made that clear. She gained her singles match to go 1-1 for the week.
The occasion’s finest was its environment; the matches have been lined with enthusiastic followers and all the factor felt large. Its worst was its Friday morning logistics, a failure so important it was onerous to fathom how they occurred. Additionally, the no-realtime-scoreboard factor drives me nuts.
ONE DUMB GRAPHIC
Greatest golf bros.
ONE SWING THOUGHT
You’ve gotta get it there. Kinda.
Each time I watch one in all these workforce match-play competitions I get irrationally pissed off watching the most effective gamers on the earth hitting must-make putts and completely hammering them via the break and like, 5 ft previous the cup. In match play it’s straightforward to get obsessive about the concept that you “need to get it there,” which is true, however if you happen to take that to the acute you run into two issues:
1. You’re placing in another way than you often do, so that you’ll mess up the break.
2. You make the outlet successfully smaller by hitting the ball too onerous; the outlet is greatest at dying pace.
This can upset me once more subsequent week on the Presidents Cup, I’m positive.
ONE BIG QUESTION
How a lot do LIV guys make?
For as soon as we even have a solution right here, too. After Jon Rahm claimed the season-long $18 million bonus on Sunday, Joaquin Niemann bought $8 mil for second and Sergio Garcia earned $4 mil for third, LIV launched its participant year-to-date earnings together with season-end payouts. Right here’s how that prime 10 seems:
1. Jon Rahm, $34.75 million
2. Joaquin Niemann, $24.38 mil
3. Sergio Garcia, $17.09 mil
4. Tyrrell Hatton $11.63 mil
5. Brooks Koepka $11.57 mil
6. Dean Burmester $8.37 mil
7. Cameron Smith $8.08 mil
8. Louis Oosthuizen $8.06 mil
9. Abraham Ancer $7.44 mil
10. Carlos Ortiz $7.39 mil
How does that evaluate to the PGA Tour? You’ve most likely learn by now that Scottie Scheffler earned greater than $62 mil, so his historic season has him nicely out in entrance. However No. 2 Xander Schauffele made $23.2, proper consistent with Niemann’s second-place earnings. And the Tour palms out extra money to extra guys; fortieth on the LIV record is Danny Lee at $2.36 mil whereas Cam Davis remodeled $4 mil in the identical spot on the PGA Tour’s record. The LIV guys make a ton of cash, they achieve this in fewer occasions and lots of bought beefy signing bonuses. However it seems the PGA Tour is giving out some big-time money, too.
One large query to go away you with, then: How a lot did Rahm really get for going?
ONE THING TO WATCH
Royal County Down.
I really like Eire, so maybe I’m biased — or maybe I simply have correct judgment. The Irish Open guidelines. And Royal County Down guidelines. What a scene at 18.
NEWS FROM SEATTLE
Monday End HQ.
Summer time formally involves a detailed at week’s finish, however one factor that’s already noticeable this time of yr is simply how a lot darker it will get each day. After the Solstice in mid-June, at some point to the subsequent we solely lose just a few seconds of sunshine. This time of yr, although, we’re shedding three minutes each day. It accelerates. That provides up quick; proper now we’re shedding like 20 minutes each week. Meaning you’ll be able to actually begin to really feel it as we get slingshotted round this nook of the calendar and 9 p.m. sunsets are an more and more distant reminiscence.
Bundle up, gang. Fall golf is on the doorstep.
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Dylan Dethier welcomes your feedback at dylan_dethier@golf.com.
