Best read with a hydrating sports drink.

It’s a major championship week! The PGA Championship has returned to May for the first time since 1949, but first let’s wrap up the past weekend in golf.

Just say it wasn’t you

After a wet and slow Sunday, Sung Kang emerged as the winner of the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson Championship. Kang held the 36- and 54-hole leads after a course-record 61 that vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard. This was his first PGA Tour win in his 159 career starts. Leaderboard

There is usually a lot of public support whenever a long-time player finally breaks through. That may not be the case in this situation, as Sung Kang is also coming off a year in which he was accused of cheating. Sometimes players can overcome that kind of public perception, but lesser-known golfers have a harder time doing so. Still, Kang played his butt off this week. He was top 20 in both Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and SG: Approach, and he gained more than 10 shots on the green.

Notes

  • Tour journeyman Matt Every finished tied for second with Scott Piercy this week. Every played 60 events between 2017 and 2018 with just one top 10. In 2019, he has had three top 10s, including a second and a third. Every also entertained fans with some pointed comments towards Kang’s pace of play on Saturday. Piercy, meanwhile, did not make a single bogey in the entire event. He’s the first player to go bogey-free for a 72-hole event since Charles Howell III did it in 2010.

  • Brooks Koepka finished fourth in his final PGA Championship tune-up. The defending PGA champ was in great form at Trinity Forest, finishing in the top 10 in SG: Off the Tee, Approach, and Putting. He’ll head to Bethpage Black with high expectations.

  • Kiradech Aphibarnrat finished T-5 despite placing 54th or worse in three of the four SG categories. The Barn Rat gained more than 14 strokes on the field with his putter.

  • Doug Ghim finished T-12, making good use of his sponsor’s exemption. Unfortunately, Ghim bogeyed two of his last three holes and lost out on another Tour start (via the top-10 exemption) by one shot.

  • Peter Uihlein needed just 127 shots on the weekend to jump to a T-5 finish. The Oklahoma State product did not make a bogey over his final 43 holes and notched his best finish of the year.

  • After missing time this year due to an Achilles injury, Pat Perez has rattled off two straight top-15 finishes. Perez shot a 64 on Sunday to place T-12.

A Kansas City Sooner

Michael Gellerman held on to win the KC Golf Classic by one shot on the Web.com Tour. Gellerman shot a bogey-free round of 69 to beat KC local Harry Higgs by one shot. The win comes in Gellerman’s 43rd Web.com Tour start and puts him one step closer to earning a PGA Tour card. With his runner-up finish, Harry Higgs moves up 29 spots and into 17th place in the season-long race for a PGA Tour card. Leaderboard

Prep like a champion

This week’s PGA kicks off at Bethpage Black, and every player will be looking for a leg up. To perform at a major level, you have to be at your best, and we turn to Greater Than for healthy hydration. Their coconut-water-based sports drink packs twice the electrolytes and half the calories of the most popular sports drink on the market. Try out Greater Than and their newest flavor Watermelon, and get 20% off with code FRIEDEGG20. Order here

Quick Hooks

Like Kang and Gellerman, Marcus Kinhult won for the first time on the European Tour this weekend. The native of Sweden took the British Masters by one shot over Matt Wallace, Eddie Pepperell, and Robert McIntyre. Leaderboard

The final round of the Regions Tradition at Greystone Country Club (shout-out Director of Golf Steve Smith) has been delayed until Monday morning. Through 54 holes, Steve Stricker leads by two strokes over Bernhard Langer, Billy Andrade, and David Toms. Leaderboard

Featured pairings for this week’s PGA Championship have been released. Tiger will play with Brooks Koepka and Francesco Molinari, while Rory McIlroy will play with Jason Day and Phil Mickelson. Full Story

Richie Ramsay’s pre-shot routine was delayed by a family of ducks on Sunday. Video

Latest Podcasts and Articles

Episode 132: Geoff Ogilvy 

Andy caught up with Geoff Ogilvy for a two-part podcast. In the first episode Geoff talks about Tiger’s win and what it means, Trinity Forest, and the concept of par. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify.

Shaggy Kang’s big win, early PGA thoughts, and soccer comes to Golf Channel

Brendan and Andy return from the weekend ready for the second men’s major championship of the year. But before looking ahead, they review Sung Kang’s big win at the Byron Nelson, giving Andy a chance to play his walk-up music one more time. They also get into Matt Every’s comments on Kang’s pace of play and the sudden death of #ToddWatch. The subject of Trinity Forest being “easy” simply because of scores relative to par is addressed with vigor. On the Euro Tour, they rejoice at the confirmation of Westy hosting the British Masters again as well as his trip to the States for the PGA. Now comes the question of whether he’ll play or just do appearances at parties. Andy also gets off a rant about a soccer game impeding Sunday morning coverage on the Golf Channel. They sprinkle in some thoughts on a few early PGA topics before diving headlong into the major later this week. We wrap going over a listener-submitted document purporting to list every single FedExCup No. 1, ever. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify