Q|9 Vol. 49 - Is it The Open yet?
From bizarre happenings on the Euro Tour to Glover's 1st win since 2011, stay up to date with the world of golf
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What’s up, golf fans?!
We’ve been waiting two long years but it’s finally here - the Open Championship.
Let’s get you up to speed before the week at Royal St. George’s takes over.
No. 1
One-sided story
Bryson DeChambeau dodged the media in the days following his split with caddie Tim Tucker. And now, it’s pretty obvious why.
He wanted to make sure he controlled the story, so he went to Golf.com to share his side and posted it to his Instagram. He definitely didn’t do this to any of the news stories that came out shortly after the split.
Colt Knost said on this podcast that he was at the Rocket Mortgage Classic when the split occurred and Tucker walked past him and said “you have to have me on your podcast. I got things to say.”
So yeah, this ain’t over.
No. 2
Onslaught of WDs
Hideki Matsuyama, Bubba Watson, Matthew Wolff, Kevin Na and Zach Johnson are the latest player to withdraw from this week’s Open Championship.
Hideki still has COVID, as does Johnson.
Bubba, who is vaccinated and tested negative, came in contact with someone who has COVID, therefore cannot travel.
Wolff and Na cited travel restrictions as to why they are bowing out.
These four join Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim as notables who are skipping the season’s final major.
No. 3
Tough day for England
English fans are in mourning after a tough loss on Sunday when Min Woo Lee defeated Matt Fitzpatrick (and Thomas Detry) in a playoff at the Scottish Open.
Of course, the loss in the Euro Cup final will be tough to swallow, as well, but Fitzpatrick’s near-miss surely has England fans waking up with a case of the Monday blues.
For the 22-year-old Aussie, it’s his second Euro Tour win. The future is bright for Min Woo Lee.
No. 4
Long time comin’
Lucas Glover won the John Deere Classic for his first win in 10 years and the fourth of his career.
He birdied five of his final seven holes for the two-shot victory over Kevin Na and Ryan Moore.
No. 5
Furyk and Fluff
Jim Furyk and his legendary caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan won the U.S. Senior Open by three shots. It was Furyk’s third Champions Tour win and first of many senior majors.
No. 6
Marathon cut short
The LPGA’s Marathon Classic was cut to 54-holes due to rain and Nasa Hataoka was crowned the champion. She was leading by six after Round 3, so there’s really no issue with her taking the title after the shortened event.
No. 7
WTF?
Perhaps the most bizarre scene in golf took place Friday morning as Rory McIlroy was set to start his second round.
A drunk spectator walked onto the tee block, took one of Rory’s clubs out of his bag, then started taking practice swings while everyone stood around in disbelief.
Luckily nothing went horribly wrong and the spectator finally complied and gave back the club, although he really didn’t want to give back Rory’s headcover.
No. 8
Euro Tour does it again
I’ve pumped the tires of the Euro Tour’s social media game plenty of times before and they delivered once again.
Take 10 minutes and enjoy!
No. 9
Open Champ stats
There will be plenty more juicy nuggets coming from JRay throughout the week!
The Open Championship is here! I can’t believe it’s been two years since the last one. Time to buckle down and pump out some content.
See ya on the 1st tee,
Eric
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