I have no way of proving this to you other than asking you to take my word for it, but I would like to let you know that I have these digits of pi memorized: 3.141592653. Hope you all celebrated appropriately yesterday. Now, golf.

New to WOWgr? Here are the guidelines

WOWgr Vol. 2024.5

No. 1 – Scottie Scheffler (No change from last week) – We’re officially on Bad Man Watch™ heading into Augusta National. With how he’s hitting it, he just need an average putting week to slide into another Green Jacket.

No. 2 – Bumpers (Up 442) – What we’re seeing all around TPC Sawgrass is just insane. In case you missed it, the bumper rough lining many of the water hazards at the Stadium Course did a terrific job stopping dozens of balls from falling into the water on Thursday. The most egregious offenders are on 12 & 17, but these strips can be found across the golf course. Why even have a water hazard if you are going to protect players from finding it? And I know you’re wondering why bumpers were so low last week. That’s because I bowled a 149 two weeks ago without hitting them a single time, and decided I no longer needed them.

No. 3 – Lydia Ko (Up 2) – Three top-5 finishes in her first four starts of 2024 makes her the clear best player on the LPGA Tour as far as WOWgr is concerned. There are many players with more pop in their bat than Lydia, but I have no doubt we’ll see her win multiple times this season.

No. 4 – Wyndham Clark (Up 8) – Dude is golfing his ball right now. Emphasis on “right now”, as it’s seemingly a week-by-week thing. He obviously played great to win the rain-shortened Pebble Pro-Am but then fell off the map at TPC Scottsdale and Riviera. He looked great again at Bay Hill, and obviously played well yesterday. If you value wins more than consistency, WC may be your guy. Otherwise Mr. Schauffele is happy to guide your fandom to another T-3 finish.

No. 7 – Refreshing press conference quotes (Up 91)- In a variety of ways, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy all delighted with their quotes this week. Fans value real honesty. Rory has done plenty of this in the past, but hopefully we continue to see authenticity out of guys like Xander and Scottie.

No. 11 – FOMO (Up 399)- If you haven’t been following along, make sure you catch up on our Eggsplorations: Northern Ireland series. The boys seem to be having a jolly good time and having more than a couple Guinness along the way. I’m not jealous at all. Not one bit. Nope. Not me.

No. 15  – Shot-shaping at TPC Sawgrass (no change) – It’s the best.

No. 33 – The Players Championship (Up 5) – It’s still a great event, but like I wrote in Wednesday’s newsletter and as we saw play out yesterday, there are real causes for concern. Still, it feels like a bigger week when you’re watching the golf, and that’s what matters.

No. 719 – The rules of golf (Down 441) – I will not be getting in on the “where did it cross” drama from yesterday, although you should read Joel Beall on that. What I will say is both instances in which Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Viktor Hovland had to decide where McIlroy’s ball crossed highlight a pretty large flaw in the rules of golf: they are subjective, and can be applied in different ways depending on the circumstances. That’s especially true in professional golf. Whether or not a camera was there to help inform a drop location is the most relevant in this circumstance, but there have also been many instances in recent years where we’ve seen rules officials come to different conclusions when presented with the same information. It really doesn’t make any sense.