One-time bar bouncer, Knapp, among those tied for 2nd at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH — The cups that hold his attention these days are the ones on the putting greens where Jake Knapp makes birdies. Knapp was among six players tied for second at 7-under par—a shot behind Russell Henley—in Thursday’s opening round in the ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But not all that long ago Jake Knapp was thinking about cups and glasses in the restaurant-tavern where he worked while struggling to become a touring pro.

Golf is never an easy game, but some people become successful more quickly than others.  Knapp was one of the others. He did modestly well while at UCLA some ten years ago. He got on the second circuit which was renamed the Korn Ferry Tour. And he didn’t make progress until after losing his card. Then everything clicked. 

He won on the Korn Ferry and almost exactly a year ago broke through on the PGA Tour with a first-place finish in the Mexico City Open last February.

“I worked as a nightclub bouncer. After losing status and missing at Q-School in 2021, out of funds, I needed to be away from golf. I needed some responsibility and some perspective on things. I wasn't aware that The Country Club, a restaurant in Costa Mesa, turned into a nightclub; I went there to be a barback (assistant bartender).”

His days were free since he worked at night, allowing him to spend them practicing golf. It obviously paid off for Knapp, who is now 30, which is considered late to start a career on tour. However, what matters is not how long he is on tour, but how well he does. 

On Thursday he did very well, shooting a 65 and not making a single bogey.  

“It was cold this morning,” he said with a southern California viewpoint. “I wasn’t playing super easy those first few holes, just how firm and kind of bouncy the greens were, but once it kind of warmed up you realized with not much wind out here you can give yourself a lot of opportunities and did a good job of doing that.” 

When you think of bouncers in bars, you might picture someone built like Arnold Schwarzenegger. But Knapp is built more like a defensive back—5-foot-11 and 190 pounds. Yes, that’s large enough to put a few glasses on the counter and maybe put a few unruly customers out the door. 

On Friday, when he shifts to Spyglass Hill—the other course used in this historic tournament—he needs to put a few more onto the fairways off the tees. If the weather turns nasty, as predicted, it's better to be at Spyglass, deep in the Del Monte Forest, than at Pebble Beach along the bay.

“If we get a little bit of weather and if that happens,” said Knapp, “just do our best to keep the ball in front of us and keep it below the hole.” 

If he can do that, the man who was once responsible for ejecting unruly customers might find more than a glass raised to his golf.

Would it be possible these days to create a golf tournament the way Bing Crosby did?

PEBBLE BEACH — You read the nickname on one of the many plaques posted behind the first tee. “Crosby Clambake,” it says, the briefest reference to a tournament that has been altered over time—and to some, diminished— evolving into what is now the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

You know how it all came about, a singer-entertainer whose popularity helped brighten America during the Depression of the 1930s, creating a golf event for his pals and impoverished pros. It was an original, and it became an anchor for the sport, which has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry.

Most of us know that. What we don’t know is whether that would be a possibility, or even a fantasy in today’s world. Is there any individual around whom you can build a golf tournament or any sporting competition as once was done? Television has made us aware of so many multi-talented athletes and entertainers.

Just watch any of the late-night shows or sports channels. Pick one of your favorite stars. Then remember he or she must be a golfer as was Crosby or Bob Hope. It doesn’t work anymore. It doesn’t need to. Which is why the Bing Crosby Pro-Am, once listed as “The greatest show in golf,” must be viewed through a historic prism.

You had Ben Hogan or Sam Snead trading strokes while Phil Harris or Dean Martin cracked jokes. It was like watching the Colbert show while it was being staged on the 18th green at Pebble.

There were birdies and bogeys and laughs. There were memorable lines, as well as memorable tee shots. The Golf Channel and ESPN didn’t exist in those days. If you wanted to know what was going on, you had to be standing there, even in the rain that came to be known as “Crosby weather.”

The purses were small compared to now—Scottie Scheffler, who is in this AT&T, earned $25 million last year. That figure would seem a dream for pros even in the 1950’s. 

Of course, everything changes, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. The tournament once was played on three courses including iconic Cypress Point where Bing himself was a member and once made a hole-in-one on the hole that juts into Monterey Bay, the 16th hole.  During his tournament, he would be seen wandering around the course welcoming fans and seemingly enjoying the golf as much as the players. 

Clint Eastwood, who became the mayor of neighboring Carmel, has a long history with the tournament, both as a player and an official.

In his book on the tournament, Dwayne Netland offered an Eastwood recollection. While a soldier at nearby Fort Ord, the Army Base which is now the site of Cal State Monterey Bay, he and a buddy crashed the Sunday night dinner, claiming they were assistants to Art Rosenbaum, the San Francisco Chronicle golf writer (and eventual sports editor). 

“I had the best steak I ever had and then went around and ate up all the desserts.”

You notice he didn’t mention a thing about clams. But that is how Crosby is remembered on that plaque behind the first tee at Pebble.

At Pebble Beach, Scheffler returns to golf after hand injury

PEBBLE BEACH—You hear it almost every time an athlete gets hurt doing something unusual, something unrelated to their sport: “We have to live normal lives too.

Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 ranked golfer, offered a version of that reminder when Tuesday addressed the media. He returned to the game after missing the opening weeks of the PGA tour season. He sliced up his right hand on a broken glass while making ravioli for Christmas dinner.

We never got a taste of the pasta, but we are going to get a figurative taste of Scheffler’s brilliant game in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, starting Thursday. 

“Yeah, it broke and the stem kind of got me in the hand,” said Scheffler. “So it's one of those deals where like it's truly — I can't live in a bubble, like got to live my life and accidents happen. You know, it could have been a lot worse.”

“I actually talked to somebody who did the exact same thing and the stem went straight through his hand. It's one of those deals where immediately after it happened I was mad at myself because I was like gosh, that's so stupid, but you just don't think about it when you're in the moment. Yeah, I’ve definitely been like a little more careful doing stuff at home.”

Rory McIlroy, who returned from his annual winter tournaments in the Middle East and is also in the AT&T, had his own thoughts about Scheffler’s accident.

“I think he made enough money to hire a chef. It's like why are you cooking yourself?” said McIlroy. In normal locker room repartee, Scheffler shot back, “I’ve got a chef, her name’s Meredith. She’s pretty cute.”

Indeed, Meredith is his wife and mother of their recently born first child, a son, Bennett.

Scheffler is as much a joy to listen to as to watch. He takes the sport seriously but not himself, poking fun at mistakes and making clear how much he understands the game is as much mental as it is physical. He isn’t full of theories or of himself. 

During his forced absence—Scheffler needed minor surgery on the right hand to extract tiny pieces of glass—he reviewed videos of his game during the season. It’s an old story for any golfer. No matter how well he or she plays, there is always room for improvement.

But after a year in which he earned $25 million on the Tour and a second Masters, you wonder how much better he can get? So much of golf, as any sport, is being at the right place at the right time. Yet Scheffler seems capable of performing excellently for many years, if he stays out of the kitchen.

TGL: Talent (including Tiger) and gimmicks

It’s called TGL, which stands for The Golf League, and it’s as dependent on gimmicks as it is on talent and there seems to be an abundance of both.

Unlike Mark Twain’s historical definition, this golf is not a long walk spoiled but, rather a short trip to fantasyland. And perhaps to the bank. Yes, Tiger Woods is involved, as an investor and as well as a competitor and so is ESPN, a twosome in this age of gaining attention and coverage, hardly is unimportant.

"It's not golf as we know it," said Woods. Rather it's an activity to fill time when there is no NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball—or golf as we know it.

You might say it's where personalities, Tiger, Xander Schauffele, and others who have done well at locations such as Augusta National or Royal Troon, meet technology. It is held indoors right now, at SoFi Arena in West Palm Beach, Fla.—not to be confused with SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. 

The evening begins with a bellicose announcement of the players as if they were battlers in MMA and not the PGA. There is a screen as in some golf facilities which records the distance and direction of the long iron and wood shots.  You might be familiar with one of those.  Some have you believe you are playing Pebble Beach or St. Andrews. The TGL screen is enormous—64 feet by 53 feet—and the course it depicts is not one in particular, just holes with bunkers and water hazards. The building itself is large enough for a basketball arena, and has rows of seats for fans encouraged to hoot and holler.  

The players are divided among six teams, each consisting of four PGA golfers chosen arbitrarily.  In Tuesday's inaugural, Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Sean Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Wyndham Clark were involved. Each was placed on teams called New York and Palm Beach, not that this is important. If you are going to have competition the result must mean something and at the moment, who really cares other than how the players perform? After their long shots, the players then move to an artificially turfed putting green—and here come the gimmicks—which is constructed to be able to spin and undulate. So far no windmill. 

Woods did not play Tuesday but made an appearance, not surprisingly, since he is so involved.  The schedule is for him to compete in the next matches, probably for Palm Beach. 

Maybe the best part was the jabbering and needling among the golf stars, just as if they were in a practice round or friendly match.

The thinking is that the public drawn by the names will find TGL must-see stuff. Who knows?  But there are a lot of oddball shows on TV, and TGL may find its niche. After all, even a person who doesn't know a bogey from a birdie would most likely find it more compelling than Corn Hole.

If not, The Golf Channel will deliver the real goods on weekends.

This Maverick is now a PGA tour winner

The last hole of the last PGA Tour tournament of the year, and the kid named for an auto brand finally finished first.

Maverick McNealy birdied the final hole Sunday at the RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia, to break through in his fifth year as a pro after great success at Stanford.

“A moment I’ll never forget,” said McNealy. Understandably.

In his career McNealy, now 25, didn’t exactly need to pull himself up by his Footjoys—his father Scott was one of the founders of Sun Microsystems—but like a true maverick he obeyed his own desires. And it has paid off in much more than the mere $1.368 million prize money he picked up in this event. Or the realization that he has now achieved every golfer’s goal, the win that gained him a place in the 2025 Masters. There's also the recognition every athlete strives for—something McNealy had already begun to earn, thanks to both his name and his game.

When you think of Stanford golf, legendary names like Tiger Woods and Tom Watson come to mind. McNeely, although sharing the Stanford record of 11 victories, is a long way from that category. However, with this win, he’s taken a significant step forward in his journey.

As you hear every week, winning on tour is incredibly difficult. Especially when you are identified as McNeely has been. Scott McNeely, now 70, a one-time auto executive in the auto industry before advancing to Silicon Valley power and wealth, had four sons and named each after cars: Maverick, Scout (who now is caddying for Maverick), Colt, and Dakota. Whether the other kids or their parents found humor in their names hardly matters when you reside in Portola Valley in an estate that boasts a hockey rink (Maverick is a skilled hockey player too), a golf driving range, a basketball court, and other recreational facilities, including a gym. 

Maverick had shown the quality of his game the last few years. Victory seemed inevitable and it was. McNeely said there was a reason.

“My parents have always treated me and my three brothers like a team,” he told Cameron Morfit of PGA Tour.com. “Everything I remember growing up is family-related. I miss playing college golf and being part of a team.”

“This year, I’ve felt like I had more of a team with me than at any point in my golf career. That, I think, has been a huge difference-maker for me.”

The current team he refers to includes instructors, advisors, accountants, and trainers, 15 people.

The idea that golf is an individual game isn’t quite true anymore, although it is still one person swinging the club. A year ago, McNealy had problems trying to make that swing. He tore a ligament in his left shoulder and was unable to play on tour. He underwent biomechanical analysis, stem-cell treatment, and worked on a new swing.

Obviously, it all worked.

“Treeing” it up in the Procore, Kizzire takes the lead

NAPA — Golfers are known to try anything which will improve their game. Patton Kizzire has chosen to embrace trees, those items we’re told poetically only God can make—as opposed to the pars and bogeys created by man.

Now he’s hugging trees. 

Hey, whatever works, and in the first two rounds of the Procore it ’s been working for Kizzire. He shot a seven under par, bogey free 65 Friday at Silverado Country Club. That gives him a 36 hole total of 131, 3 under par and a one shot advantage over first round leader David Lipsky. Another shot back is Patrick Fishburn.

Kizzire doesn’t seem like one of those kids from the Berkeley Hills—he’s from Alabama and went to Auburn. But when he arrived for the media interview he, yes, became a tree hugger.

“I’ve had a little bit of time off,” said Kizzire. “I missed the Playoffs, so I wanted to make a little bit of an adjustment with my golf game, mental game and physical game.

“It’s been really cool to just get organized,” he continued, “and try to be more playful out there and be unflappable, that’s kind of my word.”

When asked if he had hugged a tree, Patton replied, "Oh, you know, not joking. I hugged that tree right there," pointing to one next to the first green.

Whatever his options for helping his game, tree hugging or not, Kizzire matches up well with Silverado. He finished 2nd in 2018, when the tournament was called The Safeway Open.

He said he was looking forward to bringing his “positive vibes and positive thoughts” back to the wine country.  So far, so good. 

“This is a good place,” he said, “this a great golf course, and I enjoy playing it.”

That’s not unusual.  Golfers like courses on which they play well, and it’s a two-way street. Or is that a two way fairway?

And they play well on courses they like.

“The first time I played it (2018) I think I should have won.  I had the lead with a few holes to play, and another guy, Brendan Steele, played really well at the end and beat me by a stroke.”

Steele, who is from Southern California, won the tournament twice. Obviously, there is a long way to go in this tournament and well positioned in fourth place, three shots back is the veteran Matt Kuchar, a multi-event winner over the years.

Still, the tree hugger, Kizzire, is confident. And why not?

“I know I can do it,” said Kizzire, “and I’m looking forward to the opportunity this weekend.”

It’s there, along with all the trees on the course.

Lipsky gets the Procore lead and a tough question

NAPA — David Lipsky got the first-round lead of the Procore Championship and the type of question that never would have been asked of golfers such as Scottie Scheffler or Tiger Woods:

If you take a long view on your professional career… how would you describe it?

Talk about putting a guy on the spot. What’s Lipsky going to answer that doesn’t make him sound disenchanted or like a misanthrope?

A journalist might say he’s been persistent and not unsuccessful, especially after learning that while at Northwestern Lipsky was undecided about what to choose for a career.

Or was the option of turning pro and as demonstrated from his 7 under par 65 Thursday at Silverado Country Club’s North Course, it wasn’t a bad choice. 

He was a shot in front of Martin Laird, and Patton Kizzire with Mark Hubbard, who failed to register in time and needed to qualify on Monday, coming in with a 67. Defending champ Sahith Theegala had a 69.

Lipsky is 36. He has won in Asia but on the PGA Tour.  He spent the last couple of weeks getting instruction from his old coach at Northwestern, Pat Goss. The advice apparently helped.  Lipsky had eight birdies and one bogey in the round that signaled the start of the fall season.

Lipsky’s best finish this year was a 9th at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May, a long time ago according to the golfing calendar. Then Thursday, on a course amidst acres of vineyards in America’s most famous wine area, he looked like a different competitor.

“I think that’s the funny thing about golf,” said Lipsky, “especially the level of golf we play on the PGA Tour. It’s just something small, these little things that can make the difference in your game.”

Lipsky grew up in Southern California but resides in Las Vegas—not unlike other golfers trying to avoid taxes.

“Sometimes you have to realize golf can be fun, and I think I sort of forgot that along the way as I’m grinding it out week in and week out. Sometimes you’ve got to put things in perspective, take a step back. Sort of did that, seems like it’s working out.”

Silverado, redesigned in 1967 by Robert Trent Jones II, is a resort course about 50 miles north of San Francisco. Accepting enough to be enjoyable for amateurs but tricky enough to provide a decent test for the pros.

The PGA Tour guys like it because the weather usually is beautiful—it was in the 80’s Thursday, and they and their wives or partners take advantage of tasting Napa’s vintages.

Lipsky said this week of the tournament he is staying with a friend from Chicago who owns a vineyard, name unknown.

If things go right, there will be more than a few glasses raised.

Wyndham Clark at Silverado—for himself and the team

NAPA — Wyndham Clark was playing ping pong in a garage when notified he had won the AT&T, which is a tournament of golf, not table tennis. It was February at Pebble Beach, and you’ve heard this before, officials decided to cancel the already rescheduled fourth round. Clark, of course, received the $3.6 million winner’s check, but something was missing.

“I would obviously would have gone back and played the fourth round and had the nerves and excitement that you do in the final round,” said Clark Wednesday. “And to come down 18 and hopefully with a lead and to win.”

Now it is September, a week and some seven months and roughly 150 miles north of Pebble Beach. Clark is back in Northern California at Silverado where starting Thursday he’ll be in the new Procore tournament. New in name, if not location.

This is a restart of sorts of the PGA Tour, using the term restart loosely. The Tour Championship was two weeks ago, there was a week off, and now here we go again, which is fine for Clark. He wants to improve his own game, and he wants to get ready for the Presidents Cup matches in two weeks at Montreal. Clark is 30 and has a major championship, the 2023 U.S. Open, yet he sounds like a kid just out of college when it comes to the way he approaches the game.

“I stopped trying to win and went out and played as well as I could,” he said.

The philosophy has been around for a long time, concentrating on the swing rather than the score. If you hit the ball properly and get a few putts in the hole you will succeed to a point.

He spoke of the consistency of Tiger Woods and currently Scottie Scheffler. 

“That’s what you want,” he said, “to be there at the time and give yourself a chance to win.”    

Golf is the most individual of sports. You are alone on a course aside from a caddy. That’s why so many of the pros, including Clark, enjoy the team competition such as the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.

“It’s amazing,” said Clark. “I feel like when you kind of get into that inner circle with some of the top players in the world, and this is all just coming from my perspective, I feel like it helps you stay in that circle because you’re around—iron sharpens iron, so when you’re around these great players, you feed off of their confidence and the things that they do and you pick up little things here and there that help your game.”

As does playing Silverado, says Clark. 

“But the golf course itself presents challenges off the tee,” he said. “It’s very narrow and it usually gets very firm and you just end up having some kind of really cool awkward shots into greens that makes it really fun. I’ve always really enjoyed this golf course.”

Probably more than ping pong in a garage.

Schauffele, after the Open win, chases Olympic Gold. Again.

He holds the claret jug. Now Xander Schauffele reaches for Olympic gold. Again. From Troon to Paris. From dreams to reality. From near misses to wild success.

From the beaches of San Diego to the top of the world—and that’s not a reference to the rankings, where Scottie Scheffler remains No. 1.

But if Schauffele continues his ascent or even duplicates his bravura performances the last two months, in time he could move ahead of Scheffler, former British Ryder Cup captain, Peter McGinley said on the Golf Channel.

For the present, we consider how the 30-year-old Schauffele, who previously hadn’t finished first in a major, took the PGA Championship at Valhalla in May and then Sunday took the 152nd Open at Royal Troon in Scotland.

Schauffele entered the final round of the Open tied for second with five others one stroke behind leader Billy Horschel. And then quickly enough served notice with a birdie on Troon’s infamous Railway Hole, the 11th, the most difficult on the course.

Striding elegantly down the 18th fairway in front of boisterous crowds—they so love their golf in Scotland—Schauffele came in with a 6-under par 65 and a four-day total of 275 (9 under).

That was two strokes ahead of third-round leader Billy Horschel (68) and Justin Rose (67), who tied for second at 277. It wasn’t as if Schauffele was a disappointment. He won a Scottish Open and the Men’s golf division of the Tokyo Olympics in 2016.

What’s important in golf, however, is winning one of the four majors. He had none. Now he has two.

“I think winning the first one helped me a lot (Sunday), on the back nine,” said Schauffele. “I had some feeling of calmness come through. It was very helpful on one of the hardest back nines I have ever played in a tournament.” 

Which it is supposed to be. The Open is the oldest tournament in golf and depending on the weather and the width of the fairways is often the most difficult.

After half a day of driving rain Saturday, the weather was clear Sunday, albeit hardly warm. The temperature was in the low 60s, not taking into account the wind chill.

Schauffele was always accurate. Within the last year, he has picked up distance to go with the accuracy, which as pointed out made him a factor in the majors. 

“He has a lot of horsepower,” Rose said about Schauffele. “He’s good with a wedge, he’s great with a putter. He hits the ball a long way. Obviously his iron play is strong, so he’s got a lot of weapons out there. I think one of his most unappreciated ones is his mentality. He’s such a calm guy out there.”

One of the reasons for his stability is his confidence developed through practice and persistence. He said that playing in the Scottish Open enabled him to understand the vagaries of lynx golf, which is far different than that played on a course in the United States.

“It’s a dream come true to win two majors in one year,” Schauffele said. “It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else.”

Despite Monty’s suggestion, Tiger isn’t the retiring type

The shots Tiger Woods took were not only with his clubs. At the beginning of Open Week, he opened up on Colin Montgomerie.

And so much for the idea pro golfers only treat each other with total respect. Hey, if you can’t have a good rivalry, then we’ll have to settle for a good feud.

Woods is at the 152nd Open at Royal Troon on the Ayrshire Coast of Scotland. As a former winner, Tiger, now 48, will be invited to play until he’s 60, which is only one year off Montgomerie’s current age.

Monty, as you know, never won an Open. Or any other major. Whether that failure contributes to a perceived displeasure, only he knows. What we know about Tiger is he disliked (putting it mildly) Monty suggesting he ought to, well, retire.

A cynic might ask, to do what? Play golf for fun? Something Montgomerie wondered if it was possible.

Woods hasn’t been in contention since his last victory at the 2019 Masters and missed the cut this year at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. All this hasn’t discouraged his loyal fans, but certainly has discouraged Montgomerie. At least one would surmise from his comments.

“I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was,” said Montgomery in the Times article. “The passion and the charismatic aura around him—there is none of that now. At Pinehurst (for the U.S. Open) he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think ‘What the hell is he doing?’ He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there either.”

Woods definitely didn’t enjoy Montgomerie’s thoughts, as Tiger made clear when asked by a reporter Tuesday at the scheduled pre-tournament media session.

“Well, as a past champion,” Woods said with an emphasis meant to embarrass Montgomerie, “I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin’s not. He’s not a past champion so he doesn’t have the opportunity to make the decision. I do.”

If you want to believe this is teapot-tempest stuff, well, something real or imagined has existed between Tiger and Monty since the 1997 Masters.

Montgomerie was the successful veteran pro, a Ryder Cupper for England, who had been as high as no. 2 in the world rankings, and Tiger, after winning three consecutive U.S. Amateurs, was a hotshot rookie surrounded by expectations and hype. In the first round, Tiger shot a 2-under par, 70 while Montgomerie had a 72. In the post-round interviews Woods, young and enthusiastic, was understandably optimistic.

A short time later Montgomerie came into the Press Room, as it still is known, and seemed unimpressed with Tiger’s score.

He tried to remind the writers that there were three rounds to go and he was very much in a good position, subtly downgrading Woods’ chances.

However, as we were dramatically to learn, Woods burst free with a fantastic finish that included a 65 and 66. He not only won, but he did so with an eighteen-under par-270 that shattered the scoring record. Montgomerie stumbled and had a final round 81, finishing in a tie for 30th.

Woods was about to take over golf for years. Montgomerie was left in the distance. He could never get close, even with his comments.

Pinehurst No. 2 turns into DeChambeau’s No. 2

Such a cruel game, golf. Such a wonderful game, golf. A game where a two-foot putt can be as rewarding or devastating as a 300-yard drive.

As Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy know all too well.

McIlroy connected on those drives, but missed on the last few putts. And so DeChambeau – embracing the crowds’ chants of ‘USA USA’ – won a second U.S. Open. On the course named Pinehurst No. 2, but now with his repeated success in the Open, it could be called Bryson No. 2.  

The final round Sunday of this Open had all the joy and agony virtually guaranteed in a tournament where the rough is high, the bunkers are deep and the pressure unyielding.

It is, after all, considered to be America’s championship, of which several decades ago the late Sandy Tatum, after competitors complained the Open was too hard said, “We aren’t trying to embarrass the best golfers, we’re trying to identify them.”

After Saturday’s round when DeChambeau built a 3-shot lead, he was asked how he would approach the last day. 

“Fairways and greens,” he said, “and two putts.”

It didn’t exactly work out that way. But among the 71 swings he recorded in his 1 over par closing round, one was what he called “the best shot of his life.” After landing in the sand at 18, he hit his 55-yard bunker shot within 4 feet of the cup, a magnificent par saver.

McIlroy, who had the lead at times briefly, was in the scoring room watching. He came in with a one under par 70. His 275 total was one shot above deChambeau’s total of 274. Tony Finau, 67, and Patrick Cantlay, 70, tied for third.

It was Lee Trevino who said anybody can win One Open but it takes a great player to win two.  He won two, and of course, now the 30-year-old DeChambeau also has won two. For the record, Jack Nicklaus won 4, Tiger Woods 3.

This one came down to a series of short putts. DeChambeau made them. Rory did not. The late Payne Stewart, won almost the same way—beating Phil Mickelson—in the same place, Pinehurst, in 2019. 

After DeChambeau made the putt at 18, he yelled out “That’s Payne right there, baby.” 

And it was.

DeChambeau has had a great month. He was a shot behind winner Zander Schauffle at the PGA in Louisville and now gets the victory in the U.S. Open.

“As much as it is heartbreaking for some people, it was heartbreak for me at the PGA,” said DeChambeau, who a month ago made a dramatic birdie on the 18th hole at Valhalla, only for Xander Schauffele to match with a birdie to win the PGA Championship in May.

It’s one of the older cliches and truths of golf that “you drive for show and putt for dough,” as we found out again at this tremendous U.S. Open.

Scheffler makes Open cut; Tiger just misses

The best golfer of the year made the cut. The best golfer of the decade did not;

Anything else you want to know about the 2024 U.S. Open?

Oh yeah. The leaders, who are Ludvig Aberg in first and Bryson DeChambeau, tied for second with a shot back from Matthieu Pavon and Patrick Cantlay. But that’s not as important with 36 holes remaining at a course as difficult and historic as Pinehurst No. 2 as who will be playing those 36 holes.     

A lead in golf can disappear or reappear in a matter of moments. As the other guy doesn’t necessarily have to play well, you can play poorly. Need I remind you of the 1966 Open at Olympic Club when Arnold Palmer — yes that Arnold Palmer, the King — lost a seven-stroke advantage in nine holes.

If you’re there on the weekend in a major you have a chance. And Scottie Scheffler, who tops the world rankings and has won five events on Tour this year, is there—phew—barely, right on the cut line.

But unfortunately, Tiger Woods, arguably the most popular golfer in memory, if not the finest—Jack Nicklaus gets that call—missed the cut. Woods was at 74-73–147, 5-over. Exactly what Scheffler shot—71-74–145—and made the cut. 

Tiger had received a special invitation from the US Golf Association. And at age 48, not playing more than once a month because of his various injuries, he was thrilled. So were the fans on the property, whose vocal support of Woods echoed through the pines for which the golf resort is named.

Woods has missed the cut four times in his past five starts in the U.S. Open; he last made the cut when he tied for 21st at Pebble Beach in 2019. He had missed only one cut in his first 16 starts in the tournament as a pro.

It was his 13th consecutive round of par or worse in a major, the longest streak of his career. He missed the cut or withdrew in five of his past six starts in majors.

"Well, it's one of those things where in order to win a golf tournament, you have to make the cut.”           

Which Scheffler managed to do after teeing off Friday morning and then waiting through the afternoon until finally enough other people slipped to lower cut so Scottie was in.

Scheffler hasn’t missed a cut since the 2022 FedEx St Jude Championship (22 months ago) but after failing to make a birdie Friday, the streak was very much in jeopardy.

“This golf course can be unpredictable at times,” said Scheffler before he knew he had made it to a third round.

That’s why the game is so unpredictable and rewarding.

Cantlay, Rory and the movable Open feast

It was the great Dan Jenkins, borrowing the title from the no less great Ernest Hemmingway, who referred to the U.S. Open and its many venues as a movable feast.

One year it’s held in the historical setting of The Country Club, outside Boston. The next is amid the luxurious glass and steel buildings surrounding the Los Angeles Country Club. This week it is in the sandhills of North Carolina in Pinehurst Resort where the greens are elevated and the memories bittersweet.

It was at Pinehurst in the 2019 Open when John Daly would knock putts from one side of the eighth green to the other as if he were on a miniature golf course. It also was at that 2019 Open, when Phil Mickelson, his wife expecting the couple’s first child wore a pager, Payne Stewart won by a stroke, grabbed Phil, and told him, ”You’ll love being a father.” A few months later Stewart died in the bizarre LearJet accident.

Michelson, who will be 54 Sunday is in this Open, and in the first round Thursday, unfortunately, showed why Tour golf is for the younger guys, shot a 9 over par, 79, without a birdie. In contrast, Tiger Woods, who is 48 and received a special invitation to play, had a 4-over par 74.

There were co-leaders at 5-under par 65, after 18 holes, Rory McIlroy, who has won four majors, and Patrick Cantlay, who hasn’t won any.

Rory has been in the news the last month for something other than the way he hits his tee shots, which are always long and occasionally straight.

A month ago, immediately after the PGA Championship, McIlroy, 35, filed for divorce from his wife, Erica. Then practically, as condolences were offered, he announced he had changed his mind. How would all this affect his game at the U.S. Open? We found out quickly enough.

Cantlay grew up in southern California and competed at UCLA. He once was the No. 1 amateur in the world rankings, but that was in the past. He is virtually the only American at the top of the board. McIlroy is from Northern Ireland. Ludvig Albeg of Sweden was third at 67. Tied for fourth are Matthieu Pavon — he’s from France — and Bryson DeChambeau. He’s not only an American, he’s from Stockton. He won the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.  

The guy everyone has been favoring, the guy who is first in the world rankings, Scottie Scheffler shot a one-over 71. It was his 1st over-par opening round in a major since the 2022 PGA Championship.

He had played only 21 holes the entire season when he was over par in a tournament.  But this is The Open, and this is Pinehurst. Odd things take place.

Valhalla drama ends with Schauffele finally winning a major

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —  It seemed less a sporting competition than a Hitchcockian drama, with police involvement, unpredictable weather, and an ending as thrilling as anyone could wish.

The 106th PGA Championship, on a course named for a resting place for mythological Norse warriors, gave us a battle that went down to the wire. Which is perfect in a city best known for horse racing. 

The guy who won it, Xander Schauffle, wasn’t exactly a long shot, but in years of trying he never had finished better than second in a major championship. Until Sunday.

Schauffele had been in the lead or tied for the lead since he shot a 9-under 62 Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club — well except for a hole during Sunday’s final round when he double-bogeyed the 10th.

That was followed by birdies on 11 and 12. Somehow it was going to be his tournament. And that was inexorably determined when Schauffele drilled in a six-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole which broke a tie with Bryson DeChambeau.

Schauffele shot a 6-under par 65, for a total of 263, which is a ridiculous 21 under and the lowest 36-hole score in history for a major.

Remember that promo about the Tour: “These guys are good”? Truth be told, they’re amazing.

Look, Valhalla is difficult. It has hosted four PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup. Tiger Woods couldn’t even make the cut. And Shauffele shot a 62. And Saturday so did Shane Lowry. You know what happened to Scottie Scheffler, the No.1 ranked player in the world, he got caught in a traffic tie-up while heading to the round on Friday he drove through police barriers, was arrested, and spent a few hours in jail. His Saturday round, understandably, was a disaster. He dropped from fourth to 24th. Oh, but Sunday he was back to his world-ranked self, a 65, and tied for eighth.     

Not that anyone knowledgeable about golf ever would confuse Schauffele (born in California and a San Diego State grad) and Scheffler (who moved to Texas very young and went to the U of Texas) but now Xander has taken a step out of any shadow. He had won the gold medal for golf at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Asked how determined he was to finally become a major champion, “Yeah, I mean, I’ve become very patient not knocking off any wins in the last couple years,” Schauffele said. “The people closest to me know how stubborn I can be. Winning, I said earlier, is a result. This is awesome.  It’s super sweet. But when I break it down, I’m really proud of how I handled certain moments on the course today, different from the past.”

“I really did not want to go into a playoff with Bryson. Going up 18 with his length, it’s not something that I was going to have a whole lot of fun with.”

No playoff was needed. The drama ended the way it should. As scheduled.

For Scottie, a warm-up in jail, a tie for fourth

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Words never expected to be heard from any golfer, much less the No. 1 ranked player in the world.

“I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was a first for me,” said Scheffler. “That was part of my warm-up. I was just sitting there waiting and I started going through my warm-up, I felt like there was a chance I may be able to still come out here and play.”   

Scottie Scheffler played Friday and quite well considering the circumstances. No, exceedingly well no matter the circumstances.   

Two rounds into the 106th PGA Championship, a tournament that may be remembered for much more than the birdies and the bogies, Scheffler, having shot 66, is tied for fourth, three shots behind leader Xander Schauffele.  

Large sporting events in general and golf tournaments, in particular, are settings for crossing roads and fairways, security people caught between order and chaos, misunderstandings and on occasion missteps.

As what happened Friday at Valhalla Golf Club where in the darkness of early morning a concession worker was killed dashing across a thoroughfare, when frantically trying to arrive for work on time, he was hit by a shuttle bus.

An accident. A traffic tie-up,  Rain falling. Impatience growing. Police doing what they’re paid to do, keeping everybody safe. Touring pros unable to do what they’re paid to do, compete.

The word is Scheffler is cool-headed and respectful. A new father. But he couldn’t get around a traffic tie-up just before the entrance to Valhalla Golf Club so he steered his courtesy car, the one with the identifying painted on the side and front, PGA Championship, onto the center median.

Bryan Gillis is a long-time Louisville police detective. He’s usually on other types of assignments but he has worked the Kentucky Derby, where attendance is above 140,000 but the spectators are behind rails and the horses follow a jockey’s instructions.

When Scheffler headed for the practice tee, Gillis ordered Scheffler to stop and when Scheffler didn’t he then grabbed the side of the vehicle.  

Gillis was dragged through the mud and was injured severely enough to need hospital treatment. Scheffler was sent to jail, where while he waited for release in a cell practiced his warm-up exercises.

Scheffler was charged with felony second-degree assault on a police officer, along with lesser charges of third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic, according to Jefferson County court records.

One of the Louisville politicians, worried that the arrest and jailing would be a large negative for Louisville, suggested the charges be dropped, which probably will happen.

What shouldn’t happen is how this all came to take place.

“I don't really know,” said a contrite Scheffler. “I feel like my head is still spinning. I can't really explain what happened this morning. I was sitting around and waiting. I started going through my routine and I tried to get my heart rate down as much as I could today, but like I said, I still feel like my head is spinning a little bit. But I was fortunate to be able to make it back out and play some golf today.”

Some very good golf, the type a No.1 ought to play. Golf that had people in a few hours selling T-shirts that read “Free Scottie.”

After a 62 at Valhalla, Schauffele says, “It’s just Thursday”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Just Thursday. That was the reminder, the warning, if you will, from the man whose golf was just remarkable.

Just Thursday, but whatever day of the week it was becomes irrelevant after the sort of record round posted by Xander Schauffele, on day one of the PGA Championship.

The old saying echoed for years by golfers of any age is you can’t win a tournament in the first round but you can lose it. For sure Schauffele didn’t lose it.

And he certainly put himself in a beautiful position to win it.

Indeed there are three days remaining in this second major of the year, and the weather, beautiful Thursday, is forecast to turn wet and miserable, and Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka are only miniscule distances behind.

Still, Schauffele shot a 9-under par 62 on that course named for a mythological place of Norse warriors, Valhalla, where former champions include McIlroy and Tiger Woods.

“It’s a great start to a big tournament,” Schauffele said. “One I am obviously going to take. But it’s just Thursday, that’s about it.”

Not quite. Not when a few days ago, last Sunday to be specific, the 30-year-old Schauffele entered the Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow, and was blown away by McIlroy and ended up sighing, “When (Rory’s) on, he’s on. Hats off to him for winning. He played unbelievably well.”

As did Schauffele even though as he pointed out it might have been just Thursday.

The golfers are stronger these days, and more aggressive. The kids grow up watching The Golf Channel and ESPN. And playing in college competitions at places like Pinehurst. Numbers don’t intimidate them… Neither do absurdly long par-fives.

A 62 in a major?  Rickie Fowler did it in last year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. So did Schauffele.

Asked one of those nonsensical questions about how he would compare the 62’s, Schauffele said, “I don't know. I can't nitpick. I'll take a 62 in any major any day.”

His German-born father, Stefan, was an Olympic decathlon hopeful until a drunken driver crashed into his car which cost him an eye. An aerospace engineer, Stefan settled in the San Diego area where Schauffele was born and grew up. As everyone down there does, he surfed. Under Stefan’s coaching, Xander developed in golf, after high school enrolling at Long Beach State, then transferring to San Diego State.

He took the men’s golf gold medal in the 2016 Tokyo Olympics, yet he’s never finished higher than second in any major. Thus did that 62 at the PGA create possibility. And pressure.   

 “Yeah, I think not winning makes you want to win more, as weird as that is. For me, at least, I react to it, and I want it more and more and more, and it makes me want to work harder and harder and harder.”

At a Valhalla PGA, memories of Tiger making history

LOUISVILLE,  KY. —  This is bluegrass country. The way the rain has been falling it’s wet grass country. They’re playing another PGA Championship here at Valhalla, a place named for the great hall in  Norse mythology where the souls of heroes slain in battle went.

Which has nothing to do with saving par but certainly captures one’s attention.

In a few days, we’ll be concentrating on who is able to capture the tournament, and yes as expected the favorites are Scottie Scheffler, first in the world rankings, and McIlroy, first in last weekend’s Wells Fargo event.

But now we deal once more with someone who also was No. 1 in the world, who also won the Wells Fargo and no less won the PGA Championship right here on the wet Kentucky bluegrass, Tiger Woods. 

Yes, golf can be slow. Or can be boring, but golf may be the only sport where yesterday’s legends go on playing. What else are they going to do? Retire and play golf for fun? Might as well do it for millions. 

Not that Tiger, after winning 82 PGA Tour tournaments, needs the money. His contract with Nike was dissolved. He now has his own clothing line, Sun Day Red. Clever, huh?

What Tiger needs is the competition. And companionship, camaraderie, the laughter, the satisfaction. His thoughts, “I still can hit the thing.” And he can, if at age 48, after the surgeries, not as he once could.

But while we wait for the names to be posted on the leaderboard, cognizant when the 106th concludes Sunday evening, let’s listen to Tiger’s comments in the media tent Tuesday. 

Indeed he’s entered this time. Former PGA champions have lifetime invitations  Yet, his past is what’s important, rather than the future. Woods won the PGA Championship four times, one fewer than the remarkable Walter Hagen, who won it in the 1920s  when it was at match play.

Of Tiger’s four, perhaps the most memorable, was at Valhalla in 2000 — the third of his four major victories that year.  He was locked into the closing holes with Bob May, who had faced Tiger in southern California when they were amateurs. The PGA Championship was in August, in the suburbs of Louisville while the weather was hot.

“I just remember the pressure that I felt, the chance, an opportunity to do something that Ben Hogan did in 1953. The summer was a whirlwind,” said Woods. “I was playing well, then coming into this event, being able to play with Jack (Nicklaus) in his last PGA championship. Jack played with Gene Sarazen in his last PGA. Just the connection with all that.”

Woods and May tied at the end of 72 holes, and Tiger won a 3-hole playoff. History had been achieved. He had three majors.

No drama this Masters; Scheffler wouldn’t allow it

AUGUSTA, Ga. — It wasn’t dramatic, the final round of the 88th Masters, but it certainly was emphatic. Scottie Scheffler grabbed the tournament by the lapel of its green jacket Sunday and never let go.

While many of the guys chasing him self-destructed with one double bogey after another, Scheffler played like the top-ranked golfer in the world.   

Which he is.

Now he’s also a two-time Masters champion after this overwhelming victory, four shots in front of the surprising Swede, Ludvig Aberg, joining Scheffler’s win of 2022.

“It’s hard to put into words how special this week has been,” added Scheffler. “It’s been a long week, a grind of a week. The golf course was so challenging, and to be sitting here wearing this jacket again and getting to take it home is extremely special.”

There’s an old saying that the Masters doesn’t start until the back nine Sunday. Oh, really? By then it was virtually over. Scheffler, in truth, locked this up with birdies on eight, nine and 10, and went on to shoot a 4-under 68.

Just before that, he had just bogeyed 6 to have his lead cut to a shot. 

“The best momentum turner that I had today was the birdie putt on 8. I hit two really good shots in there long of the green. I had an extremely difficult pitch that I hit up there about 10, 12 feet from the cup. It was a challenging read because it turned early and it was really straight at the end. So it was a putt that you had to really start on line and hope it held its line. I poured that one in.”

That gave him a four-round total of 11-under 277. Aberg, a rookie skilled enough to be chosen for the winning Euro Ryder Cup team, shot 68 for 281. Meanwhile, the Englishman Tommy Fleetwood shot a 69, joined by Cal alums Max Homa (73) and Collin Morikawa (74), all tied for third at 284. 

Last year’s winner, Jon Rahm, never was in it — the last person to repeat was Tiger Woods in 2001-2002. Tiger shot 77 on Sunday.

Scheffler is not yet another Tiger — no one will be — but at 27, he possibly could equal Woods’ five Masters victories in the coming years, one fewer than Jack Nicklaus.

Scheffler already owns one mark — he’s now the only golfer with a beard to win the Masters.

Tiger sets another record — 24 straight Masters cuts

AUGUSTA, Ga. — He was talking like a man who believes he still has a chance because in his mind Tiger Woods always has a chance if he’s still in the tournament.

And Woods who Friday set a record by making the cut in the Masters for the 24th straight time — or every time he’s played as a pro — definitely is in this one.

Look, we know that with only two rounds left and behind players such as Max Homa, 2022 Masters champ Scottie Scheffler — the current No. 1 in the world rankings — and 2020 U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau, Woods isn’t going to win.

But Tiger doesn’t know it, or if he does, he never would admit it.  He’s come from behind so many other times, although, yes, now Woods is 48 and has been hurt so often it’s remarkable he still can walk, much less make birdies. He made enough in what virtually was a round and a half of golf at Augusta National.

Because darkness kept Woods and others from completing Thursday’s first round, Tiger had to play 14 through 18 Friday morning, then after a 50-minute break, tee off in the second round. He did so in a very Tigerish style, responding with an even-par 72 after a one-over 73.  That 145 total may have put him five shots to the rear of Homa’s 138, but Tiger has won the Masters five times.

"I'm tired," Woods said after the second round. "I've been out for a while, competing, grinding. It's been a long 23 holes, a long day. But Lance Bennett (his caddy) and I really did some good fighting today, and we've got a chance."

Which means the telecast (Saturday and Sunday on CBS, after the first two rounds on ESPN) has a chance to attract a massive amount of viewers. Not much else is going on this weekend and Tiger on the tube lures people who normally wouldn't watch.  

There’s golf, and then there’s Tiger. When Woods is involved, so is the public. Especially at a major championship. Especially when that major is the Masters.

“I’ve always loved playing here,” said Woods. “I’ve been able to play here since I was 19-years-old (After winning the U.S. Amateur). It’s one of the honors I don’t take lightly, being able to compete.” 

He’s not alone. As winter ebbs, pro golfers become obsessed with finding a place in the Masters. Tiger, along with the rest who made the cut, has that place. The ride should be very entertaining. Enjoy!

Even at the Masters, one is unable to avoid the story of O.J. Simpson

AUGUSTA, Ga. — This time the tournament is the Masters. That time the tournament was the U.S. Open. Both times the story was about the Pro Football Hall of Fame runner turned killer, Orenthal James Simpson.

Strange how these coincidences take place.

Now, Augusta, where Thursday Bryson DeChambeau took the first-round lead with a 7-under par 65.

Then, Oakmont Country Club, where in June 1994, Ernie Els took the victory. Now and then the overwhelming intrusion of O.J. ‘s life or death.

The announcement of Simpson’s passing, at 76, from cancer, was made in the morning. That it came just before the first shot to the year’s first major championship was appropriate. No matter what else was going on, O.J. Simpson, or his deeds, commandeered the headlines and television screens.

What we found out about Simpson is that he became as adept in the art of delusion as he was in his ability to gain yards. What happened and have been reminders is we don’t really know a person, even a spouse or best friend.      

Had he practiced self-deception, or was it just developed naturally? You come of age in the tough Potrero Hill section of San Francisco without a father, you discover how to survive.

I came to San Francisco in the summer of ’65. Simpson was at CCSF, a junior college, playing the first of two seasons with such brilliance. He not only broke rushing records but also was heavily and brazenly recruited.

That was strong stuff for someone who had been playing tackle at Galileo High, who erroneously was called “O. Jay Simpson” in a caption.

Simpson told us he chose USC because he liked the horse that was the Trojans mascot that ran around the track at the LA Coliseum after Trojan touchdowns. Presumably, he was telling the truth. Now you wonder.         

O.J. was engaging and cooperative, a sports writer and pitchman’s dream. If I needed an interview — after all, I was at the Chronicle, one of his hometown newspapers — or Hertz was looking for promotion, he never refused.

And then, even those skills had declined. Simpson came to the San Francisco 49ers, where tales of his childhood could be revived. A great guy, right? Wrong.

It was a Monday in June 1994. I was arriving at the Pittsburgh airport to cover the Open. At the baggage carousel, I hear some saying, “O.J. Simpson’s wife was killed, and he’s a suspect.”’

No way, I’m thinking O.J. never would do anything like that. The freeway car chase on that Friday captivated the nation. The golf event couldn’t quite do that.

Ernie Els grabbed the trophy. O.J. Simpson grabbed our attention. As always.