by Today’s headline goes out to all the dads.
Searching for momentum
Typically one of the firmest golf courses in the southeast, Congaree Golf Club was softened by recent rains and played relatively slow on Thursday at the Palmetto Championship. The course wasn’t a complete pushover, but more than 30 players shot 68 or better. Wes Roach leads after firing a 65. Leaderboard
Among the players one shot back is world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who is making his first start since missing the cut at the PGA Championship. Coming one week ahead of next week’s U.S. Open, this is a promising sign for DJ. He’s missed the cut at the first two major championships of 2021 and hasn’t been himself in quite some time. After starting the year hot with a win and two top-11 finishes, DJ has had one top-25 finish in his past seven starts.
We all know Dustin Johnson doesn’t exactly need momentum to win big events, but the week before each of his major titles he recorded a top five. Another strong round or two this week would be a great lead-in to Torrey Pines, a course that sets up very well for him.
Informed practice
Just because you aren’t preparing for the U.S. Open doesn’t mean you should slack off on the practice tee. Rapsodo Mobile Launch Monitors are here to help!
Rapsodo provides instant feedback and data you can use to optimize your practice sessions. The Mobile Launch Monitor connects to an app on your smartphone to gather stats and video, and it provides shot tracer at the range. It’s available at a fraction of the price of most launch monitors but is still accurate to within 2% of the pricey versions. The Rapsodo MLM isn’t much bigger than your phone so you can take it anywhere. You can even use it indoors!
A game changer in the launch monitor industry, Rapsodo will help you practice better. Using the code friedegg at checkout, you can save $75 on your purchase of a Rapsodo Mobile Launch Monitor when you order one between June 12 and 20.
Something new
It’s rare that we see innovation in professional golf, but the Euros have something special cooked up this weekend. Co-sanctioned by the European Tour and Ladies European Tour, the Scandinavian Mixed, an event featuring men and women playing for the same purse, is off and running in Sweden. Sam Horsfield and Christine Wolf lead the way through 18 holes after both shot 64 on Thursday. Leaderboard
A mixed-gender event is something we’ve wanted to see for a long time. It makes sense that the two European tours would try the format first, as they have been more open to innovation than their American counterparts. We can only hope that the idea will spread. It would be cool to see mixed-gender competition at the Olympics, and any match-play event with mixed pairs would be instant must-see TV. But regardless of how often we see this format in the future, we’re excited to see it this week.
Solheim Scouting
This week, three members of our team took a trip to Inverness Club, which will host the Solheim Cup this year. Recently restored by Andrew Green, this Donald Ross design showed out and got us excited for September. Here are a couple of photos taken from our quick sojourn to northwest Ohio!
The Latest from The Fried Egg
Superintendent Series: Rich McIntosh on Torrey Pines, the U.S. Open, and Funny Farmers Insurance Open Incidents
Rich McIntosh, superintendent of the South Course at Torrey Pines, joins Andy to discuss how preparations are going for the 2021 U.S. Open. Rich has an incredibly difficult job: taking one of the busiest municipal courses in the world and getting it ready for a national open. But it’s not just a grind; Rich talks a lot in this episode about what he loves about preparing for big championships. He and Andy also touch on the recent renovation work at Torrey Pines, what to expect from the facility in the future, and some fun stories from the annual Farmers Insurance Open. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.
Shotgun Start: #TainWatch, Rough videos return, and games within the game
This Friday episode opens with a discussion on the proliferation of craft burger places, as well as the amusement over the animated Andy that appeared in the big Golf Digest article featuring him. Then they get to the Palmetto Championship, where Brendan’s one-and-done pick, Monday qualifier Tain Lee, is on absolute fire. They discuss, with moderate confusion, the Pomona colleges where he went and put all Shotgunners officially on #TainWatch for the rest of the week. Andy scours the bottom of the leaderboard with disgust, highlighting the bushels of players that should have been bounced for KFT talents. There are also some reports from the ground about the excellent conditioning. News hits on our first social media video of the rough at Torrey Pines, which leads to a proposal that all OEMs be banned from event grounds. Precision Pro Flashback Friday takes you down the path of a South Carolina resident that holds an impressive (or ignominious based on your point of view) record that Westy may match next week. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.
