Get caught up on the week in golf.
Jena Sims, Brooks Koepka, PGA Tour
Hello, friends, and happy second week of the PGA Tour playoffs to all who observe.
Let’s start with an admission: Last summer I played a round so poorly it caused me to take almost whole year off from playing. But now? Now I have made my official return to the game of golf. I’ve been hitting balls after work and teeing it up with my little brother who, lucky me, has plenty of patience for me and my mishits. Other than that, not much is new on my end. I’m looking forward to getting back on the road for work in a few weeks, seeing my coworkers in person again and bringing some real-life golf sights and sounds your way.
Let’s talk golf! Congratulations to Lilia Vu on her second major victory of the season (!) as well as to Lucas Glover on his second win in a row on Tour.
That’s some impressive play. Heck, playing at all seemed impressive to me, considering just how hot it was in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
I learned something new this week: caddies don’t have to wear their bibs if it’s over 100 degrees out! I feel like perhaps players should be able to wear shorts at that temperature as well, but that’s an argument for another day.
Props to all the players and caddies who were out there enduring the heat in Memphis. I refuse to tee it up if it’s under 60 degrees or over like, 82 degrees, so I simply (and luckily) cannot relate to having to endure such conditions. I can’t imagine it’s much fun!
The pros meet St. Jude patients
Calvin, a St. Jude patient, finally got to meet Max Homa — two years after Calvin designed some golf shoes for Homa! — in Memphis last week.
Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm teamed up with St. Jude patients for a skills challenge last week, and it was one of the most wholesome things I’ve ever seen.
More of this, please!
Lucas Glover’s jokes
Lucas Glover has taken his game to the next level in the past few weeks, and lucky for us fans, that means we’ve gotten to experience some of his dry humor. I have no idea if the 2009 U.S. Open champion even knows if he’s being funny, but his quick remarks in the press center have made me a big fan regardless.
Moments after his win on Sunday, he told Amanda Balionis Renner that he would’ve “hired her a therapist” had she told him he’d win in back-to-back weeks on the PGA Tour two months ago.
Something about his laid back demeanor and southern drawl makes his one-liners even funnier. I’m looking forward to more of Lucas Glover!
Tom Kim’s capris
Tom Kim went viral at Oak Hill after he fell in a swamp and ended up taking a mud bath.
He finished his round with his pants cuffed way up, and like any good viral moment, it was forgotten about too quickly. Many of us thought we’d never see a weird Tom Kim pants situation again.
Well folks, many of us were wrong. It was so muddy at the FedEx St. Jude Championship that Tom Kim once again decided to cuff his pants, and people freaked out.
Turns out he wanted to avoid another Oak Hill situation, and he might be on to something. His pants were much cleaner than that of some of his competitors by the end of the round.
I’m also wondering if this could be sort of a loophole for the “no shorts” rule going forward. I’ll have to ask a lawyer.
The Sims-Koepka baby!
Jena Sims and Brooks Koepka welcomed their first child, Crew, on July 27.
Crew arrived six weeks early and is spending time in the NICU. Sims and Koepka had a baby shower planned for July 29, and decided to donate the party to a local charity, Quantum House, instead of canceling it. Quantum house is a place for kids to stay while they receive treatment for serious medical conditions. The kids got to enjoy the catering, decorations and party that were originally meant for the baby shower. How awesome is that? Check out the video below for how it all went down.
Eddie Pepperell’s dig at Lee Westwood
Now for some less wholesome content. Both Eddie Pepperell and Lee Westwood have been known to be pretty outspoken on Twitter, especially since the start of LIV Golf. There’s a lot to follow here, so let me break down the drama for you.
As you know, LIV golfers are not getting Official World Golf Ranking points right now. So Westwood “laughed” at the current OWGR updates over the weekend.
And that was when Eddie Pepperell chimed in, saying what’s really laughable is the fact that Westwood made a ton of money shooting 20-over par at a LIV event.
Then they started going back and forth, with Pepperell saying that professional golf has become all about money, which Westwood never really denied.
Anyway, this kept me occupied for a few solid hours which is all we can really ask for when it comes to golf Twitter spats. As always, I’m curious how this will get resolved — if it ever does. Will Westwood and Pepperell laugh about it when they cross paths next? Ignore each other? I’m not sure how the post-quarrel protocol works in golf. With siblings, you ignore each other until one of you is hungry enough to ask if the other wants to go get food. And then the argument is over, never to be acknowledged again. I’m not sure I can picture Westwood and Pepperell driving to go get a McDonald’s coke together, but maybe they should give it a try.
Spieth shares a sandwich
There’s nothing better than a peanut butter sandwich on the golf course (unless of course, you are allergic to nuts like two of my siblings). When a fan asked what Jordan Spieth was having for a snack on Saturday in Memphis, Spieth offered the guy half of his peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich!
In the middle of a round during the playoffs! On one of the hottest days of the year! What a guy. I can’t help but wonder if the fan’s golf game will improve after having some of Spieth’s food in the same way that Calvin Cambridge becomes a stellar basketball player after finding Michael Jordan’s old basketball sneakers in Like Mike. If we see that fan competing in the U.S. Open in 2024 (or at least, like, winning the second flight at his club championship) we know who to thank.
My running list of golfers who have attended the Eras Tour
Not only am I mourning the end of golf’s major season after last week, but I’m also mourning the end of the first leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. However, knowing that there are a few golfers who attended (and appreciated) the Eras Tour makes me feel a little better.
First off we have Max and Lacey Homa, who took a trip to Los Angeles to see Swift’s concert. Shout-out to Lacey for documenting the whole thing on TikTok.
In terms of being recognized, I feel like a Taylor Swift concert is a pretty safe place for a professional golfer. I can’t image there’s too much overlap in the Venn Diagram that is Taylor Swift and PGA Tour fans (although I’m working hard to change that), and everyone there is so focused on Taylor Swift’s every movement that they might not even notice anyway.
Next up we have Kyle Stanley, who also really seemed to enjoy his time at the concert. He gets extra points for using Bejeweled lyrics as his Instagram caption.
And while she’s not a PGA Tour player herself, she is golf royalty so I’ve got to give Layna Finau a shout out for attending the concert as well.
Here’s to the next leg of the Eras Tour — and the last few weeks of the PGA Tour season.
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