After a one-week hiatus we are back. If you didn’t catch any of the golf this weekend you weren’t missing much. A lot of the big names took the week off with a big week two-week stretch ahead with the WGC St. Jude in Memphis and the PGA Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco.
Playing in the final group on both Saturday and Sunday Michael Thompson held on to score his second career PGA Tour win. His first came seven years ago! There were a ton of guys chasing him and he did just enough to card a one-stroke win!
Michael Thompson wasn’t the only winner this week. Let’s take a look at our Monday Morning Superlatives and all the oddities you might have missed last week in the golfing world.
Most Likely to Not Get a Slow Play Warning…
Renato Paratore.
Renato won the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood this week in England. It was the first official event on the European Tour in five months. He scored a three-stroke-victory with his decisive play. I mean this dude plays quick. Love it. I LOVE IT. Reminds of Brooks Koepka in how quick he gets it going. By the time your turn comes up, you know your lie and what you want to do. The only iffy thing about our boy is he spent this past week putting with his glove on.
Most Likely to Make an Absurd Par…
Sangmoon Bae. During the first round of the 3M Open, Sangmoon made a mess of things (kind of) on the par-5 18th hole.
His 250-yard hole out (for par!) was the longest hole out for par in the shotlink era. The previous best was 176 yards by Steven Bowditch in 2013. I mean what a ride that hole was. Tee shot wet. Drop two. Third shot wet. Drop four. Par from 250 out into the bottom of the cup.
Most Likely to Have Me Worried…
Dustin Johnson. After going 80-80 and missing the cut at The Memorial. DJ made a mess of things of early on during the first round of the 3M open. He carded a 78 in round one before withdrawing with a back injury. We are getting to a pivotal stretch in the PGA Tour season. I hope he’s healthy.
Most Likely to Come Up Clutch…
Michael Thompson. He played some great golf on Sunday. He wasn’t overpowering the golf course, but he made some huge putts and some very clutch shots. In a tie for the lead with Aaron Long (who was already in the clubhouse), Thompson came up to the driveable par-4 16. He tugged his tee shot into a greenside bunker leaving himself a tough up-and-down. Thompson had 37 yards to the pin. He hit the following shot to tee feet for an easy and eventual tournament-winning birdie. Clutch.
Most Casual Celebration…
Bo Van Pelt.
Listen, I know these guys are pros. But, you have to show more emotion than this. I know it was Thursday. But come on! It’s a hole-in-one. The odds of a professional golfer making a hole-in-one are 2,500-to-1. That’s pretty unlikely. I know they have the saying “Act live you’ve been there before” but you have to be better. BE BETTER!
Most likely to be a Weekend Warrior…
Adam Long.
Adam Long went from making the cut on the number to solo second thanks to a casual 63-64 weekend. He was T-51 starting the weekend and he cashed a solid 714K! Not a bad 48 hours!
Seriously. Is this thing legal? I feel like if your handicap is under 20 then you just can’t have a putter like that. Did he buy that thing while he was drunk off an infomercial on the Golf Channel at 3:30 in the morning? I need to know more about this.
Most likely to Make You Rich…
Me! If you listened to my gambling picks column on Tuesday, you had a pretty solid weekend. I called Bubba missing the cut, Finau top-10 and Wollf top-20. I nearly cashed big time on Max Homa winning outright (+7000). Notes to know for you heading into next week in Memphis!
What did I miss?
Are you ready for a big two-week stretch on the PGA Tour?
Should have some monster featured groups in at the WGC. Let’s go.
FORE!