Author: revbruce

Sharing insights and ideas as a man of God and a concerned citizen...

Scottie Scheffler on a Wild Win Streak in the PGA

Scottie Scheffler is on a hot streak. While he’s not quite doing what Nelly Korda is doing in the LPGA, Scheffler is making a statement among the top golfers in the PGA. By winning 4 of his last 5 starts, Scheffler has positioned himself as the man to beat for 2024 at this point in the season.

The battle for the RBC Heritage plaid jacket saw Scheffler fend off some serious competitors like Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark, even Sahith Theegala who edged up to second place at 16 under. This win allowed Scheffler to earn another $3,600,000 on top of having recently won the Masters Tournament.

What’s next for Scheffler?

Who’s to say? Just like we saw Joel Dahmen say on ‘Full Swing’ via Netflix, “It’s so hard to win a golf tournament.” Let’s not overlook the feat that Scheffler just pulled off.

We got caught up and swept away by watching the drama play out as we saw UConn winning back-to-back NCAA championships during March Madness. That’s a feat that few colleges achieve.

Yet, what Scottie Scheffler is doing in 2024 is phenomenal and shows us how focused a pro golfer has to be to wipe out a slate of golfers hitting at 14 under or beyond. He’s doing that kind of stuff and I’m just trying to stay consistent enough to break 90 again and again.

Nelly Korda Wins Seri Pak Championship

I had my hope set on seeing Ruoning Yin defend her title through the final round at Fir Hills, but that fell by the wayside on Sunday as Nelly Korda nabbed the $300,000 prize for herself at the end of the day. Yin’s failure to retain the lead through 18 holes on Saturday became her own downfall for defending her title. This left the title open for anyone to take advantage and dominate.

It took a playoff against UCLA alumnus Ryann O’Toole to give Korda her second win for 2024. Also, this win marks the tenth LPGA Tour title victory in Korda’s career. Including the $300,000 purse from this win, Korda has earned $586,716 in 2024 with 2 victories and 2 top 10 finishes. Yin paid a dear price for not retaining her solo lead on Saturday’s round 3, ending the tournament with tied for 8th and taking home $48,011 on top of finishing the final round 1 over at 72.

It’s still early for the ladies in the LPGA. I can’t wait to see what happens as we go into the summer months. Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson have yet to break out from the pack in the chase for CME Globe points. This latest victory places Korda in first place just ahead of Ko who is in second with Henderson trailing behind at 5th place. There’s still plenty of golf to play in 2024,

Choices Come with Consequences

Golf can be one of those ventures that has big rewards and payoffs for taking certain risks. Yet, it also has some real simple consequences for taking other types of risks. That’s just some conventional wisdom for the course for you to nibble on to start out right now.

 What I really wanted to dig into was the multiple hole playoff between Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand and rookie sensation Jesper Svensson at the Porsche Singapore Classic. Those powerful drives amid strong gusts of wind along with those clutch putts made for stellar drama on the 18th hole. however, even that storyline had to take a back seat to what I witnessed among the LPGA players at Fir Hills for the Seri Pak Championship.

Ruoning Yin added a whole load of drama to the uneventful closure of the third round at Fir Hills. Everyone seemed to make more of a thing about former USC golfer Malia Nam returning to LPGA play and standing out among the top players at Fir Hills, but it appears that Yin was intent upon taking big risks to finish the day off. And that’s one thing that stole the spotlight from Malia Nam’s steady play for remaining in contention for a share of the lead and a potential shot at victory.

Leading the Pack Since Round 2

Yin was ahead of her fellow players at -11 coming into the 18th hole. Her tee shot landed her in the rough amid some trees with low-hanging branches. That left her with a decision to make. And this is where many of us recreational golfers could both readily and easily empathize with the Chinese golfer’s agonizing decision. She decided on a low punch shot between the trees rather than a high percentage shot like a pitch back into the fairway from the rough.

As I watched on, I recognized the predicament. No one was within any closer to her than 2 strokes. She had the outright lead and her game seemed to be working for her.

Yin Pays the Price

Yin drew back and made an attempt at punching it, and then all you heard was the thud of a golf ball striking bark. Anyone who has played on a course with any kind of woods on it knows that sound. It’s so distinct that it’s almost haunting.

In fact this sound was merely the awakening of a steady dwindle on a downward spiral with little to no chance of return or even redemption.

And that’s putting it lightly.

Consequences continued to come against her as she and her caddie sought some relief from her ball ending what looked like a drain and within a club length of a work shed. But even with that drop and hitting 4 from the rough, Yin ended up short of the green on the 18th. That left her pitching upward to try to finish up the hole.

Things didn’t work out well for her at all on 18. She finished the hole with a triple bogey. She finished the round even at 71 for the day. She ended up tied for third at -7 after holding onto the lead most of the day.

Look at the Lesson

Yin isn’t by herself.

I’ve been there before.

How about you?

Have you ever had that one hole that just tore up everything that you have put together throughout a decent round? I bet it burned you intensely. I would imagine how badly it would feel to have everything going right and then BOOM! It all just falls apart.

Yin is the defending champion for the tournament. She even had a better understanding of the course layout and structure from the prior year’s victory. Hopefully, she recovered and can make the most of this final round at Fir Hills today. But, like many of us, she took a high risk and it cost her enough strokes to shock her. Either way, it surely caught my attention away from Svensson and Aphibarnrat battling for a new Porsche and $450,000.

Who knows? If given the opportunity again, I might try to punch it through the trees, too.

Golf is anything but easy.

Practice for Playing the Conditions

Two things that I’m certain of no matter how golf I play is that you have to play the course and the conditions as they are. The course has its own particular design and layout. The conditions are just what they are for that given day and even at that moment.

I tend to practice early mornings, especially on Sundays. In many cases, the greens are soaked and my poor little Callaway balls are rolling and splashing around while I’m chipping and pitching onto the surface.

This helps me accomplish a few goals. One of the main goals that I accomplish with this type of practice is that I can get a feel for what effect different conditions have on the ball upon approach to the putting surface. That helps a lot once we start to play on any course.

Netflix Takes Another Swing at Full Swing

Netflix Full Swing Season 2 Official Trailer

I jumped on board when I saw Full Swing promoted on Netflix some time ago. All I saw were flashes of golf courses, missed putts, and the likes of Tiger, Rory, and JT. That’s about all that it took for me start watching the sports docuseries on Netflix. Now, with Full Swing Season 2 coming to Netflix on Wednesday, March 6th , we’ve got another set of episodes to watch and review.

In recent years, it can be said that Netflix has found media content gold within the sports documentary series sector. ESPN might have “30 for 30” and HBO and NFL Films have “Hard Knocks,” but Netflix has managed to squeeze itself into a strong position when it comes to sports documentaries. Think about shows like The Last Dance that captured the Chicago Bulls and their storied championship season and Untold, especially the episode on the Malice at the Palace where Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson virtually took on Detroit Pistons fans singlehandedly. With the addition of Break Point and Full Swing, Netflix has carved out its own niche for the sports docuseries.

Full Swing Season 1 in Review

If you haven’t seen Full Swing yet, you don’t need to start with Full Swing Season 2. You need to go back and check out Full Swing Season 1. The series starts off focused on Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth’s unique personal and professional relationship in an episode entitled Frenemies. I wouldn’t rank this episode as my favorite, but I would lean in and say that it is one of the better episodes in the series.

The footage that sparked some of S1 E4 Imposter Syndrome

Here is my list of the top 3 episodes in the series:

  1. S1 E4 Imposter Syndrome If you’ve never met or heard of Joel Dahmen, this episode will have you really taking a serious look at how seriously you take yourself, especially if you didn’t know that you don’t know that you’re not supposed to take your shirt off on the golf course.
  2. S1 E8 Everything Has Led to This With a very acute focus on all things Rory McIlroy, you can see the pro golfer giving his all and doing everything to win while on the pro tour but giving up and giving into the pressure. And, as a Rory fan myself, it felt good to relieve some of these moments again.
  3. S1 E7 Golf is Hard Throughout this docuseries, you’ll hear it said over and over again. You will hear from pro golfers themselves and those closest to them who support them. Yet, the focus upon two rookie golfers on tour helps us to get a clearer indication of what it takes to make it on the pro golf tour.

Season 1 gave us some insights into the split among the pros in golf to go with LIV Golf or not. It also shed some light on how golfers like Ian Poulter and Dustin Johnson feel about their own success and the time horizon for their continued play on tour. If I could say anything about Season 1 in hindsight, I’m extremely eager to see what Season 2 has to bring to the forefront.

Preparing for Full Swing Season 2

I am looking forward to checking out Season 2. Comparatively, I enjoyed both seasons of Break Point which gave us a different perspective of tennis pros and their professional pressure to win big-time tournaments. From what I’ve seen so far via the trailer, we’re in for some heavy duty emotional explosions in this new seasons. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this plays out on screen.

Presidents’ Day Practice

I awoke early. I did some dynamic stretches and came close to emulating a few yoga poses that have helped with my back and hips. I was ready.

Once on the road, I would stop for a large coffee at a convenience store on the way. No donuts on the menu for today.

By the time I arrived at the golf course, I was ready.

My mindset was focused on the selection of clubs and the Callaway Chrome Super Soft golf balls that I had laid out in the trunk. My stretching had my body ready for taking the club back slowly and swinging through effectively for my desired results.

Everything seemed in place.

Early mornings aren’t my best time to play. I think the earliest I ever played was at 6 AM with a 5:45 AM check-in. Even for Southern California, that was too chilly to be swinging any type of club for recreation.

This Monday morning was not chilly like that, but it did have residue from the early morning overcast and fog. Dew covered the practice green and surrounding areas. The dew on the green was so thick that the golf balls would make tiny streaks that laced their own trails towards the target holes during the practice session.

I focused upon my wedges. Short game skills can always provide you with a safety net if you can’t pull the rest of the game together. And, as one who doesn’t always have it together, I tend to rely on my short game to serve as almost like an equalizer for my recovery from some bad choices on the fairway and at the tee box. That’s not perfect, but that’s definitely something I have to keep in mind every single time I tee it up these days.

In all honesty, the sand wedge and lob wedge delivered the best results. One contributing factor could be the fact that the greens were soaking wet. Additionally, I used the pitching wedge first and followed that up with the gap wedge. Therefore, by the time I got to the lob wedge and sand wedge, the surface might have lost some of its morning dew and was pretty slick with melted moisture.

I took note of the conditions causing different responses to various clubs and I tried out some trickery around the target hole on the putting surface. Technically, I’m more experienced with the lob wedge than the sand wedge. Yet, I have a greater sense of touch and feel with the sand wedge.

By the time I play a full 18 holes on a par 3 course, I think I might just go out with an 8 iron and a sand wedge. I think that would get the job done and get me ready for another test of my short game skills.

A Storied Ending of the West Coast Swing

The Genesis Invitational was set to provide a thrilling storyline for pro golf. In fact, this pro golf tournament tournament hosted by Tiger Woods on behalf of TGR Foundation is held at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. It serves as a befitting end to the West Coast Swing portion of the annual golf season.

What we got from the Genesis Invitational was way more than any of us bargained for along with most probably less Tiger Woods than we originally expected to see. The lineups and foursomes were great pairings for viewers of the event. The struggles on the course called for some sensational news like Cantlay fighting to maintain an early lead or Jordan Spieth getting disqualified for signing the wrong score on his scorecard. That all came around the same time that we heard about Tiger having back spasms and other issues on the course. It wasn’t long before we got word of Tiger pulling out of the tournament altogether.

All of that made for great fodder, but the true story was being etched out day by day on the course. Hideki Matsuyama was delivering sub-70 golf scores daily at Riviera starting with an opening round of 69 and ending with a final round 62. Matsuyama finished the tournament with a 6 stroke lead at the end. Matsuyama took home a $4 million dollar prize and an additional 700 Fedexcup Points.

Watching the final round of the tournament had me looking for who might catch up to Matsuyama and provide another playoff weekend. But that never happened here. Masuyama maintained his lead at a safe distance from his competitors and won this tournament free and clear.

After watching a post-game interview with Hideki Matsuyama sharing about overcoming back issues and his closing in on the course record during this final round, I was motivated. I was motivated to pick up my irons and chip and putt for some more practice around the green. According to Matsuyama, everything was not working for him during the entire final round, but he was able to remain consistent with his short game and his putting. That told me that we all can tee it up high and let it fly, but if we’re going to keep winging we better do it strategically to stay the course.

Phoenix Open Delivers Plenty of Memories

There were plenty of predictions about the Waste Management Phoenix Open this time around. However, with all of the hype and shenanigans going on at one of pro golf’s most fan-friendly events of the year, it all could seem to blend in and make for a bad mix.

While I might have been pulling for Charley Hoffman down the stretch, I surely support and congratulate Nick Taylor for his endurance to take the win in a stirring second playoff.

There was some good golf being played out there. I like what I saw from a lot of pros who don’t always get the shine from the press and media. Names like Theegala, Scheffler, and Spieth appeared on the leaderboard, but they also gave fans plenty to cheer about.

@dogleg_g0lf

Wait for the crowd reaction #golf #wm#fy #wastemanagement

♬ original sound – Dogleg_g0lf

Some folks show up at Phoenix for the wild weekend fanfare and fun in the sun. You have to wonder where golf fits into the entire scope of their itinerary, especially when pros have to call out bad behavior among fans. This isn’t Coachella. It’s a golf tournament. It’s becoming a bit troubling to have to share pro sports magical moments like the Taylor-Hoffman playoff along with unruly fans acting badly throughout the weekend. Let’s just agree to let this weekend die down before trying to make sense of it all. After all, this has been one of the most storied tournaments of the PGA Tour.

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North County Golf Outing

The tee time was pushing it close, but we knew that when we started. Daylight would rush our play towards the end of the day. Nevertheless, we made our way to Rancho Bernardo Inn in North County San Diego just under 30 miles from central San Diego proper.

From the first tee, I felt good swinging in the tee box. I drove it across a waterway and followed that up with an approach shot onto the green. I putted for par on the green, and then played it too safe on a par 3 that cost me some strokes. Then, I made my second par on a par 5 hole and saw my potential for breaking 90 light up.

Unfortunately, not many highlights pop up after that.

One memorable hole had me trying to work some magic by overplaying a dogleg that got me caught up with some dogwoods and eucalyptus trees. That move had me right along with my foursome who all sat in the fairway, while I wrestled with the tall grass amid the trees. I overworked for that double bogey on that hole.

I never went beyond making a bogey on the back 9. In fact, I stacked up enough double bogeys to keep me focused on fixes for my next outing.

I was too conservative on my putts, leaving myself too much ground to cover on the second putt. Also, I was overplaying a few holes when I was left with under 100 yards to the flag. Playing a 9 iron instead of a pitching wedge under such conditions makes the difference between being on the green or just beyond the green.

I learned one lesson clearly and it has been on my mind since this round. I need to manage my shot selection and choice of clubs in order to set up the next shot. If I don’t do that well, then I’m bound to still struggle breaking 90.

Flooded Fairways and Stormy Forecasts

I saw it for myself. I didn’t have to see it on the local news report. I didn’t have to hear about from others on social media. I saw the fairways of Chula Vista Golf Course flooded like the Red Sea sweeping away the army of Pharaoh in its pursuit of Moses and the children of Israel.

Stormy conditions in the San Diego area have made playing golf a futile aspiration over the past week. Right after the flooded fairways were cleared of the water and debris left from the prior storms to resume regular tee times on the local golf courses, San Diego is bracing itself for another catastrophic level of rainfall and wind over a period of two days.

Conditions like this make it a good time to focus on fitness. Whether it’s hitting the local gym or following the lead of a Peloton instructor at home, you can work out and remain fit and prepared for the next time you hit the fairways. Maybe it’s time to conduct some upkeep and maintenance on your body in order to be prepared for your next round of golf.

My hope is that the storms come and go.

I’ve got a tee time scheduled for Saturday at Rancho Bernardo Inn in the North County area of San Diego. With this storm scheduled to pass away by Friday, I’m hoping for a sunny Saturday morning that could provide a decent round of golf and an enjoyable time with close friends.

I’m going to prepare for another shot at breaking 90 and keep swinging where and when I can.

#golf