by The two most consistent players in professional golf over the last six months each won events on Sunday. Justin Rose cruised to a two-shot victory at Torrey Pines while Bryson DeChambeau dominated on the other side of the world. Many of us may be stuck in arctic temperatures, but the golf world is officially heating up.
Farmers Only
World #1 Justin Rose put on an absolutely clinical performance in San Diego this weekend. He opened with a tournament-record 129 over the first two rounds and was able to coast to victory on Sunday with surgical consistency. The Englishman made four bogies and two doubles on the weekend, but his onslaught of birdies masked his mistakes. Rose now has two wins and six top-3 finishes over his last ten events. Leaderboard
Great Scott
Adam Scott notched his first top-2 finish since 2016 at Riviera, finishing two shots back of Rose. Scott has struggled mightily with his putting over the last couple seasons but seems to have found some confidence. Despite missing what would be a gimmie in most Saturday games, he finished 14th in strokes gained putting this week and birdied his final four holes to finish in solo second.
The Powerhouses
Jason Day (T-5), Rory McIlroy (T-5), Jon Rahm (T-5), and Hideki Matsuyama (T-3) all put on solid performances in San Diego. They each had times where it looked like they could make a run at the title, but Rose’s consistency was too much to overcome. Hideki in particular needed a good showing to gain some confidence. He had two top-5 finishes in the playoffs last year but struggled for most of 2018.
Goochi Mane
Two weeks ago, Talor Gooch was living a life of uncertainty. He was not sure what tournaments he would get into and needed high finishes to earn spots. He has now finished T-4/T-3 in back-to-back weeks and has earned roughly $800,000 this season, more than he did in all of 2018. He has strong strokes gained numbers approach and off the tee, huge indicators of future success.
Dubai DeChambeau Classic
Bryson DeChambeau won his fourth event in his last nine starts on Sunday. The polarizing golf phenom made seven birdies and one eagle on his way to a final-round 64. He ran away from a very talented field and finished seven shots ahead of Englishman Matt Wallace. Bryson will remain 5th in the world and is undoubtedly one of the most consistent golfers on the planet right now. He has four victories, six top 10s, and hasn’t finished worse than 19th in his last 9 events.
Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Thorbjorn Olesen all finished in the top 10. Leaderboard
Quick Hooks
Bryson is notoriously meticulous, and this audio from his pre-shot routine this weekend confirmed it.
Apparently this is a penalty? Haotong Li thought he made a birdie on the 72nd hole in Dubai, but this two-shot “penalty” dropped him from 4th to T-12, a difference of $100k.
The European Tour is heading to their hotly-debated event in Saudi Arabia next week. The Morning Drive crew did a solid job breaking down the implications. Video
College golf returns this week! Catch up on the fall action with Will Knights’ article on the current state of men’s NCAA golf. The Oklahoma State Warriors
The Latest Podcasts and Articles
Rose runs away, a Reed-Spieth hug, Haotong gets hit, and the worst of the PGA Show
We return from the weekend to discuss Justin Rose’s dominant win at Torrey Pines and Bryson DeChambeau’s dominant win in Dubai. Andy argues that Rose’s win confirms his belief that clubs don’t matter. Also from the Farmers, we review Tiger’s impressive week, the theatrics of the Reed-Spieth hug, and the aspirational vibe of Adam Scott. Then we swing out to Dubai, where Andy has some strong feelings on pace-of-play enforcement when it comes to Bryson. We also get worked up about the egregious Haotong Li penalty. After results, we run through the reader submissions of some of the useless, inane, and amusing products from the PGA Merchandise show. We wrap up with a whiparound news segment on the The Players (aka The First Major) re-taking the game’s richest purse throne, Steve Wheatcroft’s tweet on Tour travel price-gouging, and former-reinstated-amateur-
