Tiger and Charlie Woods’ cart, Jordan Spieth
mdmesq on IG, Getty Images
Hello friends, and welcome to this week’s edition of the Rogers Report! Sunday was probably my favorite golf day of the year as I watched Rose Zhang win her professional debut in a playoff as well as Viktor Hovland get it done at Jack’s place. If you’re like me and missed Hovland’s post-round press conference because you were dialed in on Zhang’s game, check out this hilarious clip.
I’m not sure if Hovland knows he’s funny, or if it’s completely unintentional. I’m also not sure how many pros would be that brutally honest to Jack Nicklaus. Either way, it’s hard not to crack a smile once he starts giggling.
Rose Zhang
Just 13 days after winning her second NCAA title, Rose Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open on Sunday at Liberty National. And the pros were paying attention. Here were some of the best posts that I saw about Zhang.
Zhang also took a moment to snap a BeReal after winning, which had to make for one of the best snapshots on the app. Most of my friends and I are doing absolutely nothing 90% of the time we post to the app.
I’d also like to take a moment to highlight the fact that Zhang has done more in three months than I have in … my entire life. She won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April, defended her NCAA title in May and won her professional debut in June.
I’m tired just thinking about what a busy and incredible months it’s been for the 20-year-old.
Phil’s latest Twitter activity
Phil has been very outspoken on Twitter over the last few weeks. Instead of dissecting each post, I’m going to rate some of my favorites.
This Tweet is great. He took what was meant to be an insult and turned it around on the original tweeter, all while supporting his For Wellness business. I give this a 7.5 out of 10.
Next up we have a response about Rory McIlroy.
I’ll give this a 6 out of 10 (deducted points for the incorrect spelling of McIlroy, and then a few more because he went on to explain that he was kidding instead of just letting the joke live on the internet).
Up next we have a rare Phil Mickelson gambling reference.
If I were deducting points for bragging about finances, I’d give this a zero. But this is my own rating system and I’m not deducting points for that, so I’ll give this one a 15 out of 10. The three simple sentences are strung together perfectly. The meme-ability of this Tweet is endless. I’ll be getting it printed on a T-shirt.
And finally we have Mickelson’s response to the viral photo of Hideki Matsuyama boarding a Spirit Airlines flight.
I give this an 8 out of 10 for the play on words.
Spieth’s unusual fan request
Whenever I’m at PGA Tour events, it seems like most kids either want an autograph or a photo with one of the pros. A signed hat is cool, but an Instagram post with a PGA Tour player? That’ll get you some serious attention on social media.
Every so often, a kid will want something else signed. I’ve seen Crocs get inked, and even a forehead at the Players Championship in March.
When Jordan Spieth was signing at the Memorial over the weekend, he came across a kid who didn’t want an autograph. He wanted to play a game of rock-paper-scissors against the 13-time major champion.
The kid beat Spieth. I’d tell Jordan to stick to golf, but I believe most games of rock-paper-scissors are best two out of three, so it’s unclear whether Spieth could’ve emerged victorious in this scenario. I guess we’ll never know.
Hideki flies Spirit
If there’s one thing you should know about me it’s that I am a bad traveler. Just last week I missed a train because I scheduled it for the wrong day. Two years ago, when I was just starting my job here at GOLF, I was told I should find an airline to stick with. It didn’t occur to me that copying Dylan Dethier and becoming an Alaska Airlines loyalist wasn’t a good idea because I live in Boston while Dethier lives in Seattle. Bottom line: I’m constantly having to rebook flights because of stupid mistakes.
Despite all of these traveling errors, you know what I can proudly say I’ve never done? Flown Spirit Airlines.
I am not someone who believes that the pros need to fly private, but I was a little shocked when I saw a Masters champion traveling with commonfolk this like. Other instances of professional golfers flying commercial have been well documented here in the Rogers Report, but never on this airline.
Tiger Woods in the wild
There are a handful of things in this life that really keep me going — food, water, spray tans before big life events and annoying my coworkers, just to name a few.
You know what else I need? Tiger Woods updates. If a Tiger sighting isn’t shared every few months, I get anxious and irritable. Luckily, I’m feeling much better after someone shared the following images over the weekend.
A Frank headcover and crutches on the back of a golf cart. Is there anything that screams Tiger Woods in the year 2023?
While I’m not totally convinced TIger’s the one sitting in cart in the above photo, I’m sure that this one is.
I’m not sure what the fact that I immediately recognized Woods’ shirt here as the one he wore in Round 1 of the PNC Championship in December says about me, but I thought I’d share that fun fact with you all. Here there are pictured in Orlando during the event.
Getty Images
No word on whether Charlie rocked the same shirt at his junior event, but the 14-year-old did win the 36-hole event — by eight! — at one under par.
Viktor the caddie
After attending a PGA Tour event for a full week, I like to go home and do absolutely nothing for at least three days. After winning a PGA Tour event on Sunday (and earning $3.6 million, I might add), Viktor Hovland was up bright and early on Monday to caddie 36 holes for his college teammate Zach Bauchou, who was trying to play his way into the U.S. Open.
So congrats to Hovland not only on his win at the Memorial, but also for being a much better friend than I am.
At the time of writing this, Bauchou is T63 at the qualifier, which will perhaps make Hovland the first-ever individual to both qualify (as a player) and not qualify (as a caddie) for the U.S. Open. I’ll have to double-check the history books before confirming that one.
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