Quadrilateral: Major(s) Rahmifications, U.S. Women's Open Final Round Primer And The Reids Of Nottingham

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Rahm Opens Up Six-Stroke Memorial Lead, Tests Positive For COVID-19 And It's A Total Mess

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AP’s Doug Ferguson reported on the shocking twist Saturday, with this scene getting a lot of attention after Jon Rahm opened a six-stroke Memorial lead:

The positive test was confirmed, the results returned as he was on the 18th green. Rahm was been asymptomatic all week.

He was withdrawn from the tournament, leaving Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa tied for the lead at 12-under 204.

“It’s kind of the worst situation for something like that to happen and he played awesome today and it’s just, it’s really a shame,” Cantlay said.

The PGA Tour statement revealed Rahm as having been exposed May 31st. He was in daily testing and his 4:20 pm result tested positive again at 6:03 pm while Rahm was on the 18th fairway. A “close contact” in the Tour guidelines is within six feet of a positive person for 15 minutes.

PGA Tour VP Andy Levinson answered questions after the withdrawal and could not confirm Rahm’s vaccination status. However, he did say Rahm is in the PGA Tour testing program still, essentially confirming he is not vaccinated for COVID-19.

Q. Can you say if Jon has been vaccinated and if he had been, would he not then have been required to test every day?

ANDY LEVINSON: I can't speak to Jon's vaccination status. That's an individual situation. But he was still part of our testing program, and he was required, under our contact tracing protocol to test as a result of that.

Q. So is it then fair to say that anyone who, had they been vaccinated still would have had to test every day like he did?

ANDY LEVINSON: Not necessarily. If someone had been fully vaccinated, and fully vaccinated under our protocol is, and it's defined by the CDC, is 14 days past the full cycle of a vaccination. They do not have to test as a result of being a close contact.

Q. If I could just ask one more. Thank you. Is there any consideration given to allowing him to -- allowing him to play simply because we're outdoors, the spacing, he wasn't being allowed to go indoors. I take it based on your earlier answer that the answer is no, but I just wonder if you could address that part.

ANDY LEVINSON: No, the CDC's protocol regarding people who are confirmed positive for COVID-19 is clear, and that is 10 days of isolation unless someone is asymptomatic and is able to produce two negative tests of a minimum of 24 hours apart. Unfortunately, the timing would not allow Jon to continue to participate.

Levinson also revealed the PGA Tour player vaccination rate is tracking “north of 50%”.

CBS handled the surprise news well, staying on as they were seconds from signing off due to the round lasting past their allotted time.

Jim Nantz, upon seeing Rahm’s reaction, said “this is not good” and after a few moments, stated somberly “we have no idea folks” before describing Rahm’sreaction as “instant devastation.” Part of the sequence:

Rahm spoke to media after completing his rain-delayed second round Saturday morning. Maskless:

Jack Nicklaus offered his sympathy via Twitter:

Rahm took to Twitter to thank fans and was met with sympathetic calls to have gotten vaccinated sooner.

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Other player reaction has included scorn toward the Tour for releasing the news (Wesley Bryan) or even claims of government heavy-handedness (Jimmy Walker) preventing Tour officials from letting Rahm play Sunday:

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Bryson Leaves It To The Tour To Address Brooks Who Says He's Growing The Game With Michelob Stunt

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The headlines just write themselves these days!

For those tracking the Brooksy saga, we have updates.

Brooks Koepka spoke to Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch about his pledge to offer brewskies to his Brooksy-howling booted bros just living under par.

“I’d never condone anyone being a distraction during someone’s swing or when they are about to hit,” he said. “As professionals, we do enjoy fans getting engaged at the appropriate times. It’s part of sport and competition. Hecklers are always going to be a part of any live performance. We all know that out there. We all get called different names. I’ve been called DJ many times, even when I was slipping at Bethpage [where a faltering Koepka held off Dustin Johnson in the ’19 PGA]. It’s part of it. He even said he considers it flattering.”

“With the Michelob Ultras, I wanted fans to know I saw what was going on and I appreciate fans who care about golf. It’s great to see fans out there loving it, having fun after a year of no one.”

LUP it up!

This quote alone could be the swan song for “grow the game”:

“I’m not condoning disrespectful or inappropriate behavior,” he replied. “I’m engaging in helping grow the game of golf and growing the Tour. I’m here for people being engaged and excited about golf, as long as it doesn’t cross the line.”

Meanwhile Bryson DeChambeau sounds less amused with all of the back and forth in the name of game growth.

He was all over the place after his third round but talked about his PIP prospects rising thanks to Brooks mentions. Take that FedExCup!

Q. Did you see a certain video last night from Brooks?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I heard about it through my manager and whatever, but, no. First off, I wanted to say like the fans were awesome today. They came out, supported me. Obviously you're going to have people saying things, but again it doesn't -- like I said yesterday, it doesn't rile me up, it doesn't affect me or anything like that. So it's great banter, it's fun, but the fans were awesome, the golf course is in great shape, I can't say much more than that.

Q. You didn't see it, but you heard about it. Are you surprised? I mean, like that it's going to escalate it like sort of, is that sort of what happened, I think.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I think that's something that the TOUR needs to handle, it's something I can't control. I tried to take the high road numerous times and I think that, from my perspective, I'll continue to keep doing so and people are going to do what they want to do. So it is what it is.

Q. Do you in any way think, in a strange way, that this is good that people are talking about it, people are talking about golf?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I mean, I don't even know how to answer that question. Like for, from an integrity standpoint and an honor of the game standpoint, you know, the game has always been played in a certain way. I think golf is changing, it's evolving, so there's going to come a time where it is going to be like this and if I'm the person to take the brunt of it and whatever, you know, great. I'm happy that there's more conversations about me because of the PIP Fund.

🤮

Q. That idea of honor and kind of the way that the game is played, for you, what's like that fine line of things that happen in other sports, right, where you might hear things from the stands versus out here?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I love what's been going on. I've had no issue with it whatsoever. I think that when it gets to a point where -- I would say tennis and golf are the only two sports where like when you're hitting a shot everybody's usually quiet. If it comes out to a point where they're affecting like your swing, like they're saying in your swing, that's a little over the line, but everything else, I don't care.

Q. Have you had conversations with the TOUR about this?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, my agent has.

Q. And can you give us a kind of a drift on which way, what it's about? I mean, obviously, you said it doesn't bother you.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, it's more about how, I think, and this is what I don't really know about, but I think it's something along the lines of how the TOUR wants players to act, I think. That's about it. But from my perspective, I mean, if he keeps talking about me, that's great for the PIP Fund.

And I’m sure he meant to mention his real focus remains on the FedExCup and the Comcast Business Solutions thing.

As The PIP Race Turns: "Brooksy" Calls Lead To Ejections, Koepka Engages By Offering Michelob Ultra's

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An aborted Brooks Koepka interview with Golf Channel continues to spread in new and bizarre ways after Bryson DeChambeau was subjected to light Memorial Tournament heckling on Friday.

At least ten spectators were ejected for yelling “Brooksy” at DeChambeau over the course of his 33 holes. Some suggested DeChambeau pointed out his hecklers to police, though he said he did not care in post round remarks.

From ESPN.com’s Bob Harig:

"Oh, they weren't taunts at all, it was flattering,'' DeChambeau said after shooting 72 in the second round. "I think it's absolutely flattering what they're doing. They can keep calling me that all day if they want to, I've got no issue with it. When you look at it, to most people it's they think it's a distraction, but I grew up learning how to deal with that stuff and I honestly thought it was flattering.''

DeChambeau said he did not ask for anyone to be removed, that "the officers take care of that. I don't really care.''

This on-site accounting disagreed:

Looking to move up the formerly-secret Player Impact Program race exposed by Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch, Brooks Koepka wasted no time in scooping up valuable engagement, retweets, Google searches and Meltwater mentions. This, even though he’s not playing this week’s Memorial:

The NCAA's Format Would Work Too Well For The Olympics

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Tee marker from Rio 2016 (Geoff Shackelford)

Tee marker from Rio 2016 (Geoff Shackelford)

Format suggestions are always risky since the powers in golf adhere to the ABWMS system (Anything But What Media Suggests). Their devotion to this approach is how we get FedExCup leaders starting at -10 or two boring individual stroke play events at the Olympics.

The last two weeks of NCAA golf provide an obvious and brilliant way to deliver a stroke play winner and seed teams for match play. It is the rare made-for-TV event also determining a champion in fitting fashion.

An offshoot of the NCAA approach would still get players into the Games who are good enough but might come from a developing country, while including team match play to show off the most dramatic form of golf (growing the game!).

According to IGF officials who deal with the IOC, format constraints consist of Olympic Village bed availability and whether stroke play alternatives are recognized within the sport as a significant championship format.

Those two questions are now easily answered after the Rio Games: most golfers would prefer not to stay in the Olympic Village (in normal or COVID times) and the NCAA format is established to determine significant titles on the line. (The PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and European Tour should be using their “alliance” to devise similar events as sort of a mini-Ryder Cup played by nationality or corporate alliance, which would also be a handy way to push back disruptor tour proposals.)

Here is one Olympics-friendly adjustment of the NCAA format:

  • Invite players for a 54-hole stroke play event based on world ranking as they do now, but expand to include players eligible for the team component, up to ten eligible five-player teams and eligible individuals (as we have with the current system). This means we’d be watching the world rankings to see which teams will get into the Games in a fun, side race for Olympic eligibility. Currently there is almost no interest in the who-makes-the-Games race.

  • After the individual stroke play results are in and medals awarded, the team event will be whittled to eight and seeded by scores. Two countries will not make match play based on the medal competition.

  • Team matches of five players per team are contested over two days, starting with a 36-hole day that eliminates four teams. This means a max of six competition days for the final four teams (assuming a bronze medal match, which the NCAA does not do).

The college golf format would work for both men and women, though I’d love to hear twists on how to consider it for a mixed team format. You could theoretically combine the teams into one of five men and five women, but there is something to the simplicity of the NCAA’s approach worth learning from. And we all know by now that team match play provides more drama and school pride. Throw in nationalities with Olympic medals on the line, and you have the makings of a thrilling competition. At least, in normal times.

17-Year-Old Amateur Shares U.S. Women's Open First Round Lead

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They torched the Lake!

Well, not quite with a 75.173 average, but overall the play was excellent on a calm opener at The Olympic Club. Tomorrow’s forecast isn’t so kind, with 15-25 mph winds expected.

Most impressive on day one: 17-year-old Megha Ganne making six birdies en route to a 67 to sit alongside Mel Reid who, Beth Ann Nichols reports, is a Brooks Koepka-channeling, distant relative of Wilfrid (designer of courses like Indianwood and this place called Lakeside CC which became…you know it…The Olympic Club).

Anyway, Ganne’s also a terrific interview:

Pagunsan Qualifies For The Open Using 11 Clubs Prompting Yet More Calls To Just Try It One Lousy Week You Tour Dullards!

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Okay maybe I got a little carried away with that header.

But for those who’ve long wondered what it would be like to see today’s decathletes play a reduced set of clubs. Because there would be the ensuing shotmaking, plus lots of chatter about how the team at (fill in gratuitous manufacturer plug here) helped tweak the bag to cover the numbers.

So it’s with this in mind Alistair Tait celebrates Juvic Pagunsan needing just 11 clubs to win the Japan Tour’s Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open last weekend. With caddies forbidden due to Covid-19, Pagunsan lightened his bag of the 3, 4, 6 and 8 irons while adding a hybrid.

Tait suggests the overall max number should be lowered, but I’d take just a tournament here or there where it was the Local Rule. Anyway, Tait explains what Pagunsan was thinking:

Not only did he win to qualify for Royal St George’s, he did so by three shots with a 17-under 199 thanks to scores of 66, 65 and 68. So much for 14 clubs.

“What do I do when I need 6-iron? Well, I will just adjust it by using different club,” Pagunsan told the Japan Tour website.

“On 11th, wind was blowing at me and I had 160 yards to play, and I used my 5 Iron, what choice do I have?"

"Since I didn't have much choice of clubs, I didn't have to think too much to choose," he added.

John Daly Said He Was Offered $1 Million To Tank The Open

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John Daly gave a 2014 interview to “In Depth with Graham Bensinger” that included a revealing claim about attempted bribery to tank a tournament. The clip was just posted on YouTube this week.

Jenna Limoncelli of the New York Post reported on the revelation of attempted bribery while Daly was leading the 1995 Open.

“He says, ‘Look if you tank it, I’ll give you a million bucks,’ ”

As for Daly’s response?

“I said, ‘Go…f–k yourself. No way,'” he remembered.

Daly recounted other times being approached by gamblers.

The full clip:

Pepperdine Wins The NCAA Men's Golf Championship!

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I wasn’t blogging back in 1997 when the Pepperdine Waves took the title in front of ESPN’s cameras, but the 2021 title win was no less stressful to watch knowing what was at stake.

Pepperdine edged Oklahoma 3-2 in one of those shame-someone-had-to-lose deals. But I’m glad Pepperdine hit just a few more clutch shots under the match play’s intense pressure.

The layers to this one run deep, from Coach Michael Beard and assistant Blaine Woodruff’s ability to pinpoint sometimes overlooked talent, to building a deep roster with nothing close to the facilities enjoyed at power conference schools, to bringing on former USC coach Chris Zambri this year and the tragic loss his family experienced mid-season.

Brentley Romine’s game story for GolfChannel.com with some great color on the final moments before Clay Feagler sealed the win at 18.

Adam Woodward’s Golfweek gamer recalls the lost opportunity last year when Pepperdine was the top team in the country before the NCAA’s were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Woodward also focused on Feagler, who did not appear to have his A game until battling back and making clutch putts at 16, 17 and 18.

Romine filed this sensational piece earlier in the week on Joey Vrzich, who was shaped by his dad’s near-death experience. While he lost his final match, Vrzich battled back from a huge deficit and then conceded to celebrate with his teammates:

Official NCAA highlights can be watched here.

GolfChannel.com’s video department shuts down when the printing presses start warming up, so some of their sensational coverage of the finale has yet to be posted online.

The final match play bracket:

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Jack Discovers Why Muirfield Village's 16th Did Not Work

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Nine years ago Jack Nicklaus installed an all-new 16th hole at Muirfield Village, and Tiger’s amazing hole-out notwithstanding, the par-3 over water has not been well received by players. Besides not really fitting well with the course (rear catch basin, artificial pond, etc.), looking better from angles other than the tee location, the shot has been difficult for even the world’s best to hold the green.

In renovating the course last year, Nicklaus discovered why. From Dave Shedloski’s GolfDigest.com item:

“The green actually pitched away in the back. I did not know that,” Nicklaus said with genuine wonder but blamed himself. “I figured it was built just as I drew it. So, I took seven inches out of the middle of the green and added seven inches to the back of the green. It changes the whole profile of the green, so it sits more towards the tee.”

I’m not sure why it took reconstruction to discover something determinable with surveying equipment, but maybe the hole will play better going forward.

NCAA Men's Final Set: Pepperdine vs. Oklahoma

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The tiny college from rural southern California will take on the powerhouse Big 12 behemoth from Oklahoma, as Pepperdine beat Oklahoma State 4-1 to advance to the national championship. The No. 1 Sooners outlasted Arizona State in the other semi-final at Grayhawk to set up Wednesday’s title match (Golf Channel, 5 pm ET).

The teams met last fall in the East Lake Cup, with Pepperdine cruising to a 4-1 win. But a lot has changed with both teams lead by “super” seniors taking advantage of a one-time pandemic year NCAA rule allowing players to return.

Brentley Romine writes about the old guys leading their teams: Quade Cummins for OU and Clay Feagler for the Waves.

Though Cummins, Brightwell and McAllister are a combined 23-4 in match play this season, the Sooners will need more from Reband and Lorenz if they are to defeat Pepperdine, which beat Oklahoma in the East Lake Cup final, 4-1, last October. Cummins was the only Oklahoma player to win his match that day, and he didn’t even get to finish it.

“Last time we played them in match play they got us pretty good,” Cummins said. “So, you know, we're not satisfied just making it to the finals. We're here to win.”

Not present for the Waves’ victory at East Lake was Pepperdine’s Clay Feagler, another super senior. Unlike Cummins, Feagler wasn’t a shoo-in to come back to school. His game was in poor shape and he had missed two straight tournaments for the top-ranked Waves when last season was canceled.

“I was so bummed,” said Feagler, who also had watched star teammate Sahith Theegala make the leap to the pro ranks. “I didn’t really want to go back. I wasn’t making the lineup anyway and was kind of just down in the dumps.”

Pepperdine put the Cowboys away with two epic shots, Clay Feagler’s ace and Joe Highsmith’s clutch fairway bunker shot at 18:

Nicklaus On Osaka

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Sports fans and media are watching the complicated situation involving tennis star Naomi Osaka and her withdrawal from the French Open, citing anxiety issues with press conferences and huge fines for skipping them.

In kicking off the Memorial Tournament, huge tennis fan and host Jack Nicklaus was asked about the situation, his career attitude toward press and if he sees a similar situation coming to golf.

Q. I think what made me think of it was your reputation of dealing with the media has been outstanding since before some of us were born. Do you think you would be -- what was your approach back then, what was it like back then and do you think it would be any different now given five or six different broadcast outlets that are now part of the mix?

JACK NICKLAUS: I honestly don't know. But my outlook -- my -- my view towards the press has always been you guys have got a job to do. And I tried to be honest with you, straightforward with you, I tried to answer your questions the best of my ability. If I thought there was something that I probably shouldn't answer, I probably answered it anyway, you know that. But I probably sometimes should have kept my mouth shut.

So I have always dealt with you guys that I treated you fairly, you treated me fairly. And I don't understand some of the young people today and thinking they're not going to get treated fairly. I mean, you always get treated fairly if you treat somebody else fairly. That's always been our way.

Maybe there's always some, there's always a snake in the crowd somewhere who decides they want to do something, but you can't blame everybody for one bad apple. And I don't know what she felt, went into, I have not read anything about it, I just heard she withdrew because she didn't want to go to a press conference and that she felt like she had some issue that --

Q. Anxiety.

JACK NICKLAUS: Anxiety? Well, if she has that and that's, and that bothers her, I mean, then you guys should be able to, you know, accommodate her and allow her to do what she needs to do without running her through the ringer. I mean, if she has a problem, if she really has one, you don't know that, I don't know that, only she knows that and her doctor probably knows it.

So I can't fault her, so I don't really -- one of the times I probably should keep my mouth shut a little bit because I just don't know. I mean, open mouth insert foot? I mean, is that a fair answer to you?

Q. It is, yeah. I was actually we were talking last week when just what it was like for you when you finished a round. I was just curious how much different you think the media was back then?

JACK NICKLAUS: I don't think -- I think people are people. I think you have a people, a few people in the media today who are trying to make a name and they want to get sensational. We have had that for 20 years or so. Didn't have it much right when I was growing up. But for the -- you pretty well identify those people pretty quickly. And then you're just careful with what you do. But I'm still, but still you got a job to do. And I think that -- I mean our guys have been pretty good with the press, I don't think you have anybody that's bad with the press, are you?

DOUG MILNE: None at all. (Laughing.)

JACK NICKLAUS: Surprise answer. (Laughing.) But I don't think you -- I don't think that's a big issue with golf. I feel badly for her and I hope that she, I hope that she, whatever she need or if she needs help or whatever she needs, I hope she gets it. But it's a, you know, I just don't know enough about it to really comment honestly on it.

Tim Dahlberg filed this AP column on why the situation goes well beyond being a media issue and one that Osaka will continue to face.

Bubba Watson offered this on Twitter:

First Looks At Jack Nicklaus' Last (He Says) Renovation Of Muirfield Village

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Golf.com has posted a documentary that aired on CBS last Sunday called “One Last Bite.”

It’s worth it even though you’ll have to deal with the usual pop-ups hawking Golden Bear hats (still!).

WBNS TV sent out Drone10 for a (slow) flyover of all 18 holes. First reactions: several fairway bunker rearrangements look to be calling for shaping tee shots a bit more (in line with Nicklaus’s most recent and best version of the 17th). The new look 15th still isn’t clicking with me given the raw beauty of the old hole. The creek and banks may improve with age, but at least the new green complex looks a bit more demanding to with a fun back right pin placement.