Sports are fun, aren’t they? Bookending the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday were two memorable finishes in the golf world. Jon Rahm got the action started with a fiery 62 before Matthew Wolff finished the day with a dramatic win.

 

Sticky Note Classic

The dog days of summer usually bring stale golf to the PGA Tour. Matthew Wolff, Collin Morikawa, and Bryson DeChambeau refused to let that happen this weekend. Starting the day tied for the lead, the trio shot rounds of 65, 66, and 66, respectively. Bryson seized the clubhouse after eagling the 72nd hole, setting the stage for the final group of Wolff and Morikawa. The two rookies, playing on sponsor exemptions, were tied and could force a playoff with a birdie or win outright with an eagle. Both faced tricky downhill eagle putts on the 18th green, and Wolff canned his. Morikawa narrowly missed and finished in a tie for second with DeChambeau. 3M Open Leaderboard

 

Fourth time’s a charm

Winning on the PGA Tour is incredibly difficult, yet Matthew Wolff just pulled it off in his fourth try. The 20-year-old has been a national story ever since the world discovered his unique swing at Oklahoma State a couple of years back. His sophomore season featured many victories, including the individual 2019 NCAA Championship, and the lowest scoring average in Cowboys history. He won the Haskins Award for best male golfer and turned professional last month.

While Wolff has yet to turn 21, no one should be surprised to see him already competing at the highest level of golf. He is an elite driver and iron player, and has proven himself a serious competitor under the bright lights. With two years of job security under his belt, expect even greater things from Matthew Wolff.

 

The other guy

It just wasn’t meant to be for Collin Morikawa this week. The former Cal star struggled out of the gate on Sunday, bogeying two of his first four holes. He bounced back with eight birdies over his final 14 but was unable to convert on 18 after Wolff made eagle. Still, he shot 66 and has earned temporary membership on the PGA Tour.

Morikawa may not have the same level of hype as Matthew Wolff, but he has similar potential. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and was 10th in SG: Off the Tee in Minnesota. Wins can’t be far off, but he will have to wait at least another week.

 

Notes

  • Bryson DeChambeau did his best to adhere to the top spot on the leaderboard on Sunday. B.A.D. stuck a number of shots close, including a real ripper on the 72nd hole, but Wolff ended up simply posting a better score. Most notably, on Wednesday, Bryson revealed a fascination with post-it notes. 
  • A trio of players—Carlos Ortiz, Sam Burns, and Lucas Glover—got in the mix with low rounds on Sunday. Glover shot 62 while Burns and Ortiz fired 64s, earning them top-10 finishes.
  • Viktor Hovland and Fried Egg podcast guest Charlie Danielson also made good use of their sponsor exemptions this week. Both players finished T-15.
  • Rookie Sungjae Im finished tied with Danielson and Hovland, his 13th top 25 of the season.
  • Fellow rookie Wyndham Clark appeared to completely lose his swing on Sunday, but held on for a T-5. This is Clark’s best finish of the year and third top 10 of the season.

 

Luck of the… Spanish

Some weekends are better than others. For Jon Rahm, this past weekend was about as good as it gets. The young Spaniard shot 64-62 over the final two rounds of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open to win by two shots at Lahinch Golf Club. His final-round 62 included eight birdies and an eagle as he surged from five shots back. This is Rahm’s first win of 2019, and he has now finished in the top three in each of his past three events. 

Two shots back of Rahm were Bernd Wiesberger and Andy Sullivan. Both shot Sunday 66s to get into contention but were unable to keep up Rahmbo. Eddie Pepperell, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, and Robert Rock rounded out the top five. Irish Open Leaderboard

 

Quick hooks

Ryan Brehm needed extra holes to close out the LECOM Health Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. To earn his first victory in three years, Brehm birdied the first playoff hole to beat Tim Wilkinson. LECOM Health Challenge Leaderboard

Shanshan Feng shot a final-round 63 and finished off the Thornberry Creek Classic on the LPGA over the weekend. Feng outlasted a 64 from Ariya Jutanugarn to claim the title. Thornberry Creek Classic Leaderboard

The R&A denied John Daly’s request to ride in a cart for the 2019 Open Championship. Full story by Nick Menta

Our first print of the week is still available in the pro shop. A portion of proceeds from the Sand Valley print will go to the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund! Shop HERE

 

On the links

A roundup of the golf journalism that caught our eye in the past week… 

“Mike’s magic touch: Why the Keiser Method works”

  • Ron Whitten, Golfworld
  • This long-form profile goes a touch heavy on the hagiography, but Whitten makes a rich case for Bandon Dunes developer Mike Keiser’s importance to golf history. Let’s just hope that the Keiser revolution starts to come closer to home, to our humbler neighborhood courses and pitch-and-putts. 

“Player blog: Andrew Johnston”

  • Andrew Johnston, EuropeanTour.com
  • In this blog, “Beef” details his recent psychological struggles in his usual honest, friendly voice. Best of luck, big man.

“Why private golf clubs are legally still able to discriminate against women”

  • Michael McCann, Sports Illustrated
  • Following up on the publicity about Muirfield’s first female members, SI’s resident legal expert McCann explains the exact legal mechanisms that allow clubs to exclude women on the basis of gender.

 

The Latest

Shotgun Start: Wolff arrives, Bryson’s weekend at the science fair, and LPGA sponsor shenanigans

After a long holiday weekend, we return with a loaded Monday episode following a thrilling finish to the Sticky Note Classic. We discuss Matthew Wolff’s immediate success on the PGA Tour, winning in just his third start as a pro. Where does he go from here? Andy gets to the heart of all our concerns: Does he have FedExCup status or is he still in the no-man’s points land? We also review Collin Morikawa’s amazing weekend in Minnesota and his push to earn a card in his first summer as a pro. We critique CBS’s hustling of Wolff off the stage moments after the putt to win. Bryson’s big weekend gets a full dissection: his comments on the science of sticky notes, slow play, his new “secret” to putting, his amazing golf, and how he brings a flavor to the Tour that it needs. A new segment “Who took a dump in the cup” debuts, giving us a chance to wax poetic on Brooksy’s refusal to take the top spot in the FEC Standings. We also have some disturbing reporting on a potential Sung Kang-esque bad drop in the Twin Cities last week. After the fireworks in Minnesota get their due, we address Jon Rahm’s big weekend at the Irish Open and the contrast it provided to the TPC setup. We wrap with a discussion and some sketchy handicap index background info on the sponsor exemption that was 55 over par through two rounds at the LPGA’s event last week. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify

 

Pro Shop

Holy cow! What a win by Matthew Wolff. Hey, speaking of cows, we have new leather Fried Egg headcovers in the pro shop! Elevate your bag with our custom striped driver cover, and rock the Egg wherever you play. Shop now!