As statement, head-turning wins go, that of Bryson DeChambeau in the LIV tournament at the Greenbrier – where he closed out with a 58 – would seem to bring further relevance to the start-up tour and also strengthen a claim for a wild card pick by US captain Zach Johnson for next month’s Ryder Cup in Rome.
“I’ve got some equipment that’s performing quite nicely, with the driver and that’s a deadly combination with my putting. Clearly I putted well, drove it well, wedged it well. You couldn’t have written it up any better than this,” said DeChambeau, adding of those Ryder Cup aspirations: “If I do get a call, that’d be awesome. If not, I’ll be rooting them on over in Rome.”
DeChambeau earned a cool $4 million (€3.65 million) for this three days work, with the victory an emotional one in that it was his first tournament success since the death of his father.
Ireland send strong team to Home Internationals
The busy itineraries of elite amateurs is reflected in the number of absentees from the Ireland team that will seek to claim the Home Internationals at Machynys in Wales this week, the three-day event running from August 9th-11th.
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Leona Maguire and Olivia Mehaffey are in the field for US Women’s Open at Riviera
Áine Donegan is competing in the US women’s amateur championship this week, while Walker Cup hopefuls Matt McClean, Hugh Foley and Mark Power are also stateside as they gear up for next week’s US men’s amateur.
The joint Irish team – nine men, seven women – for the Homes is nevertheless a strong one: it features David Shiel (Enniscrone), Alex Maguire (Laytown & Bettystown) and Marc Boucher, who earned automatic selection off the Bridgestone order of merit; Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) and Max Kennedy (Royal Dublin) who earned their places off the world amateur rankings, along with South of Ireland champion Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint), Paul Conroy (Enniscorthy)., Robert Moran (Castle) and Liam Nolan (Galway).
Emma Fleming (Elm Park) was selected off the Bridgestone order of merit, while Beth Coulter (Kirkistown Castle) and Anna Foster (Elm Park) earned places from the world rankings. Irish close champion Sara Byrne (Douglas), Kate Lanigan (Hermitage) Mairead Martin (Kanturk) and Jessica Ross (Clandeboye) complete the team.
Since last year, when England edged out Ireland, the Home Internationals is played as a joint competition with both men’s and women’s results counting to the overall winner.
Word of Mouth
“I’m honestly going to try not to think too hard about the consequences of what it means and all that because I feel like that freaks me out” – Céline Boutier after going back-to-back on the LPGA Tour in adding the Scottish Open to her Amundi Evian Championship success. The Frenchwoman will be aiming for a rare hat-trick on tour when she competes in this week’s AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath.
By the Numbers: 12
That’s the number of Europeans – Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Séamus Power, Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick, Thomas Detry, Aaron Rai and Vincent Norrman – who have made it through to the St Jude Classic, the first of the FedEx Cup playoffs. The top-70 advanced to Memphis and this number will be cut to 50 for the BMW Championship, the second tournament of the playoffs with a further cut to 30 for the Tour Championship.
On this day: August 8th, 1999
Tom Pernice Jnr ventured into fresh and lucrative terrain when he finally found a way to win on the PGA Tour, making his breakthrough success in the Buick Open at Warwick Hills CC in Michigan when he shot a bogey-free closing 65 for a total of 18-under-par 270 to edge out Tom Lehman.
Pernice made more money – $432,000 – with his tournament win than he had managed in the first 10 years of his then 16-year long professional career and choked back tears as he thanked his wife and two daughters for their support, having played with little success in Asia, Europe and on the Nike Tours.
“The key was relaxing and avoiding looking at the leader board. I never had the wildest idea I would win today. My swing really held up under the gun,” said Pernice, a first time winner at the age of 39.
The highlight of Pernice’s round was an eagle on the 13th, where he hit a 7-iron approach to 17-feet and rolled in the putt. He followed that up with a birdie on the 14th, where he nearly drove the green. He then made birdie putts of 33 and 13 feet on the 16th and 17th before making a sand-save par on the last to beat Lehman by one.
Twitter Twaddle
Can use adversity as an opportunity to shy away from a challenge, or take it head on. Was a tough season for me, but I actually had fun battling it out and playing this week. It’s why we play. Beyond gutted to miss the playoffs, but I’m so proud of how hard I fought #onward – Justin Thomas (who hit at the flag with his final hole pitch at the Wyndham, needing a birdie) after finishing 71st in the FedEx Cup standings, one spot outside the top-70 to advance to the playoffs.
No matter who or where you are playing, 58 on a Sunday to win is an incredible accomplishment! Congrats @b_decahmbeau on your win at the Greenbrier – Jon Rahm
Welcome José Maria Olazabal as my next Vice Captain – Ryder Cup legend. Thank you for joining me on my journey to Rome. So excited to have you on-board. Grande Txema!! – Luke Donald on adding the Spaniard to his backroom team.
In the Bag
Lucas Glover: Wyndham Championship
Driver – Srixon Z785 (9.5 degrees)
3-wood – Ping G430 Max (15 degrees)
5-wood – Ping G430 Max (18 degrees)
Irons – Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (5-PW)
Wedges – Cleveland RTX 6 (52, 56 and 60 degrees)
Putter – LAB Mezz 1 Max
Ball – Srixon Z-Star XV
Know the Rules
Q When playing the 14th hole, a player’s ball lands close to the first green. Playing the ball as it lies would result in the player’s feet being on the first green. What is the ruling?
A In this situation, the player must take free relief. This is covered by Rule 13.1f: when there is interference by a wrong green, a player must not play the ball as it lies. Instead the player must take free relief by dropping the original ball or another ball in this relief area (one club length).
