Category: 2023 PGA Championship

Validation: Brooks Koepka’s road back from a crisis of confidence to 2023 PGA Championship win

The win is Koepka’s fifth major title and first since the 2019 PGA Championship, also held in New York.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – For Claude Harmon III, the biggest surprise was receiving a call from Brooks Koepka last July to help him with his swing again. After more than two years without speaking, Harmon watched him hit balls for 15 minutes at LIV Bedminster in New Jersey, but it was what Koepka said that left a lasting impression.

“I still feel like I can win majors, I still feel like I can be one of if not the best player in the world,” Koepka said. “You know, just gotta get my golf swing doing what I want it to do and just gotta get healthy again.”

Koepka completed a remarkable return to glory, shooting 3-under 67 on Sunday at Oak Hill to win the 105th PGA Championship by two strokes over Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler. In doing so, Koepka became the 20th player to win at least five majors and joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win the Wanamaker Trophy three times in the stroke-play era.

“This is probably the sweetest one of them all because all the hard work that went into this one, this one is definitely special,” Koepka said. “This one is probably it for me.”

The 33-year-old Koepka was considered washed up, done in by injuries that included a torn patella tendon in August 2019, a hip injury in 2020, and a potentially career-ending injury to his knee cap and patella tendon in March 2021. His short-game coach, Pete Cowen, said Koepka couldn’t compress down on his left side and the result was a two-way miss.

“It was almost game over,” Harmon III said.

No one knows,” Koepka said during his winner’s press conference. “There’s a lot of times where I just couldn’t even bend my knee.”

But he gave the world a window into the self-doubt this supposedly ruthless, emotionless alpha-male was suffering from when he opened up like never before during interviews for “Full Swing,” the Netflix golf docuseries. He admitted he had lost confidence and that it was a tough thing to regain.

“My whole career has gone straight up and then suddenly I’m kind of on, I don’t want to say the other side of it but it’s like, ‘OK, well, we’re going down now.’ This is the worst I’ve ever struggled my whole life. I have to figure out how to get out of this thing before it gets too late,” Keopka said in Full Swing.

Perhaps the best advice of all came from his mom, Denise Jakows, who told him, “Sometimes you just have to put your big boy pants on and get back out there, right?”

“That’s what all the great ones do, right?” Koepka said. “Back’s against the wall, they get it done.”

Koepka’s now-wife, Jena Sims, recalled how in the early years of their relationship, Koepka powered through any struggles but she said, “Now, like In the back of his head, he’s hearing these voices of like, ‘You can’t do this. You won’t do this.’ I do worry about the future.”

What Koepka needed most was to regain his fitness, and one of the positives of joining LIV Golf in June was it allowed him to play less and he had a four-month off-season to rest and rehabilitate. He showed signs that his game was resurfacing, winning twice on LIV Golf, most recently in April in Orlando and held the 54-hole lead at the Masters but admitted he “choked,” shooting 74 and tying for second as Jon Rahm slipped into the Green Jacket.

Harmon told him that this was simply the beginning of Brooks 2.0. “If this is the second phase of your career, it’s a helluva start,” Harmon said.

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Brooks Koepka reacts as he walks off the No. 13 green during the final round of the 2023 Masters. (Photo: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Network)

But Koepka took the defeat hard and said he didn’t sleep that night after the Masters. After much soul-searching he came to conclusion that the only thing that really matters when you get knocked down is what happens next.

“Thought about it for a few days after and really honed in on what I was doing and what went wrong,” Koepka said ahead of the PGA. “From there just never let it happen again. That’s the whole goal, right?”

Koepka held a one-stroke lead heading into the final round after shooting 72-66-66. He raced out of the gate, making three consecutive birdies starting at the second hole from inside 10 feet to build a four-stroke lead. He dropped shots at Nos. 6, where he drove in the water, and No. 7 and Hovland remained hot on his heels until late in the championship.

There would be no let up on the second nine. Koepka stuck his approach at No. 10 to 8 feet and rolled in the putt. After a bogey at 11, he knocked his second shot from the rough to 11 feet at the next hole and poured in the birdie putt. After Hovland rolled in a birdie putt at No. 13, Koepka sank a delicate 10-foot downhill putt for par to protect a one-stroke lead.

“When he is holing putts like he is at the moment, he is pretty dangerous,” Cameron Smith, the reigning British Open champion and a fellow LIV Golf member, said.

Koepka kept the gas down, nearly driving the 14th green to set up another birdie and Hovland was working hard just to keep pace. But Hovland finally blinked at 16, driving into a fairway bunker at 16 and embedding his second shot into the lip of the bunker en route to a double bogey. Koepka smelled blood and stuck his approach to 5 feet and made birdie to take a commanding four-stroke lead.

“It sucks right now, but it is really cool to see that things are going the right direction,” said Hovland, who made birdie at the last to tie for second. “If I just keep taking care of my business and just keep working on what I’ve been doing, I think we’re going to get one of these soon.”

A bogey and a par closed it out for Koepka and he signed for a 72-hole total of 9-under 271.

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Brooks Koepka poses with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. (Photo: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports)

Australians Cameron Smith and Cam Davis, Austria’s Sepp Straka and Kurt Kitayama tied with Scheffler for the low round of the tournament with 65s. Michael Block, the 46-year-old club pro from Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, capped off his Cinderella story by making a hole-in-one at the 15th hole and shooting 1-over 71. He finished as the low club pro and his T-15 earned an exemption to the 2024 PGA Championship. Among the players he beat were reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, who entered the tournament as world No. 1 but finished T-50.

“It’s golf,” Rahm said, “when you think, oh, I got this, it kicks you in the mouth, and you have to start over again. It happens to everybody.”

Scheffler’s strong finish vaulted him back to No. 1 in the world ahead of Rahm, but that was little consolation to him.

“Right now I’m a little sad that I wasn’t able to get the tournament done, but I’m proud of how I fought, I’m proud of how I played the back nine today to give myself a chance,” Scheffler said.

How did failure at the Masters lead to Koepka’s validating win at Oak Hill?

“I definitely wouldn’t have, I don’t think, won today if that didn’t happen, right?” he said, but as for what specifically he learned from the defeat, he’s not telling. “Definitely take it and keep using it going forward for each event, each major, any time I’m in contention, but I’m not going to share. I can’t give away all the secrets.”

Whatever promise to himself he kept in the final round, Koepka’s ball-striking clinic over the final 18 belied his frustrating warmup. Heading from the practice tee to the putting green on Sunday before his tee time, Koepka complained to Cowen, who said, “Your 70 percent of swinging (lousy) will still win.”

Cowen said he never doubted that Koepka would win another major because “he’s a man who’s comfortable in uncomfortable moments.” But does Koepka loves the game? Cowen said no, he loves winning and wants to be remembered as an all-time great. “He’ll win a lot more, he’ll want to win all four majors a couple of times,” Cowen said.

For Koepka, who won the U.S. Open twice and the PGA previously in 2018 and 2019, he’s in rare company with five majors and his crisis of confidence seems to be a distant memory. Koepka 2.0 may just be getting started.

“He likes climbing Mount Everest,” Harmon said. “He likes being in the death zone. Everybody says they like being up there. But you got to step over dead bodies to get to the top and then you got to step over dead bodies to get back down.”

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Michael Block makes hole-in-one, finishes T-15, joins Golf Channel set, gets invite to Schwab Challenge

It is the 29th ace in the PGA Championship since 1983.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Michael Block’s fairytale week keeps getting better.

The 46-year-old club pro aced the 151-yard par-3 15th hole at Oak Hill on Sunday with a 7-iron. Block, who was playing alongside Rory McIlroy, sent his tee shot into the air at “Plateau,” the shortest hole on the course and dunked it.

“No, no way,” he said as the crowd erupted. “Are you kidding me? I’ll cause that delay anytime.”

Block, who teaches at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California, was the only club pro to make the 36-hole cut this week.

McIlroy smiled widely and slapped Block’s hand and gave him a congratulatory bear hug and tap to the belly.

“I’m like, ‘Why is Rory giving me a hug?'” Block said. “Rory is giving me a hug for hitting it 3, 4, 5 feet? That’s weird. I’m like, ‘I think I just made it.'”

It is the 29th ace in the PGA Championship since 1983.

The hole-in-one lifted Block back to even par for the day and the tournament.

2023 PGA Championship
Michael Block celebrates after his hole-in-one on the 15th hole during the final round of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. (Photo: Abbie Parr/Associated Press)

Block’s home club had dozens of eyes glued to the CBS telecast and the remote celebration went crazy after the ace.

“To do it on that hole on this stage was a lifelong dream,” Block said. “It can never be better. That’s it. I can retire. Good night.”

Block needed a top-15 finish to secure a return visit to the PGA in 2024 at Valhalla, and that ace certainly help.

But it was a clutch up-and-down par on the closing 18th hole that sealed it for him, as a final-round 71 punched his ticket for next year. Among the PGA Tour elite that Block’s 1-over 281 total beat this week: Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, Max Homa and Dustin Johnson.

After his round, and after doing a session in the media center, he got a call from the tournament director at the Charles Schwab Challenge, who offered Block the final sponsor exemption. Block accepted the call on speaker phone and he and his wife got emotional with the good news. He also received an invite to the RBC Canadian Open.

Block topped off his day at Oak Hill by joining the set of Golf Channel’s Live From, and chopped it up with Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee and Brad Faxon.

For his work on the course, Block earned $288,333.

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Jordan Spieth would like to ‘ice my brain a bit’ after the career Grand Slam eludes him again at PGA Championship

After battling for 72 holes with a bum wrist, Jordan Spieth would like to “ice my brain a bit.”

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – After battling for 72 holes with a bum wrist at Oak Hill, Jordan Spieth would like to “ice my brain a bit,” he said.

Spieth, who tried and failed for the seventh time to complete the career Grand Slam, made five birdies Sunday en route to closing in 1-under 69 and a 72-hole total of 5-over 285. After withdrawing from last week’s tournament with a left wrist injury, Spieth finished T-29 at the 105th PGA Championship.

“Two weeks ago I would have signed up for this easily,” Spieth said. “And that’s really weird for me to say in a major.”

Before the injury, Spieth was riding a hot streak having finished T-3 at the Masters and losing in a playoff at the RBC Heritage. He looked to be one of the favorites ahead of the PGA.

“Off of Hilton Head I would have said I was excited as ever to have this opportunity, for sure, but from there I went downhill for a bit,” he said.

Spieth competed in the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago and tweaked his back Monday morning. He took it easy the next few days and played poorly. Late on Friday, he hurt his wrist.

“It’s life, it’s what happens,” he said. “My expectations changed. I didn’t think I would be here.”

Spieth said he prayed for his wrist to get better. He credited his team with helping him heal enough to be able to grip the club and swing at full speed.

2023 PGA Championship
Jordan Spieth’s taped arm on the ninth green during the final round of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. (Photo: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports)

“This is something that hockey guys wouldn’t even have told anybody about and would’ve gone back out and played,” Spieth said.

For the week, he struck the ball well, ranking second in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. It was actually his short game that refused to behave – he ranked 63rd in SG: Putting and 73rd in SG: Around the Green, and he was 11 for 24 in scrambling.

Spieth said his wrist injury is trending the right way and he is planning to play the next two weeks at the Charles Schwab Challenge, where he’s a past champion, and at the Memorial. All he said he needed was a good ice plunge to put the week in the past.

“It’s what I love to do and I wouldn’t trade my job for anything but after a taxing week like this sometimes your brain is a little fried and you get a lot of people screaming at you every time you walk in between (holes) and you just kind of hear some ringing in your ears, so, for me, I go back and take a cold plunge, take a day off and I’m ready to go.”

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Phil Mickelson on LIV Golf’s greatest accomplishment: It’s made a lot of people a lot of money

“Look, it’s not going anywhere. It’s going to continue to accelerate and hopefully people continue to give it a try.”

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Phil Mickelson was asked about LIV Golf’s greatest accomplishment in the year since its inaugural event and his answer was all about the money.

“It’s provided 48 new professional golf opportunities at the highest pay, which is incredible,” was Mickelson’s first thought Sunday after finishing the 2023 PGA Championship at 10-over par 290.

One of those, of course, is Mickelson, whose reported $200 million contract was the largest given out by the Saudi Arabia-financed league. But it’s probably not what CEO and commissioner Greg Norman wanted to hear as LIV continues to battle the perception that players were only going for the money grab when they joined the breakaway tour.

Mickelson, who had his best round of the weekend Sunday with an even-par 70, then talked about LIV “holding a lot of people accountable” and appealing to “a lot younger” generation.

“It’s … getting a lot younger fans to come out and introducing a whole different vibe to the game of golf that I think is necessary,” he said.

“We’re only a year (in) and I’m thinking, three to five years out, where we’ll be,” Mickelson said. “But we’re only a year in so to me it’s just starting. In two more years, that’s when we need to look back and say, ‘Okay, are we where we want to be?’ And it seems like we’re well on that path.”

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Mickelson would not comment directly on the recent New York Times report that said he, Bryson DeChambeau and Sergio Garcia were interviewed by the Justice Department, other than to say it was accurate and he knows “a lot of stuff” will come out later.

The DOJ is investigating the PGA Tour for antitrust violations and collusion when it comes to the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I don’t want to get get into specific details but I know a lot of stuff that will come out later that I am appreciative that they’re being held accountable,” Mickelson said.

LIV is six events into its 14-tournament schedule this season with the next stop this week at Trump National outside Washington, D.C. Players have talked about the reception at the international events, especially last month in Australia.

Mickelson said “unequivocally” LIV is more popular outside the U.S. and was asked what it will take to catch on in the United States.

“Have a little bit more open mindedness, maybe, is my guess,” he said. “But the people that come out and are part of the tournaments, seem to be really enjoying it.

“Look, it’s not going anywhere. It’s going to continue to accelerate and hopefully people continue to give it a try.”

Open-mindedness from whom?

“Kind of everyone in the sense that golf’s been kind of a closed shop, right?,” he said. “Every tour is run by one organization. Golf had the same structure for, I don’t know, a century or two, and now we’re introducing it to a little bit different presentation.

“And it’s appealing to a little bit younger crowd and you kind of have to be open minded to give it a try and say, … ‘even though I’ve done it this way for decades and decades, maybe I should be open to looking at a different way.'”

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Complete lists of the golf equipment being used by Brooks Koepka, Viktor Hovland, Bryson DeChambeau and more

Check out the clubs that are in contention at the 2023 PGA Championship.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The weather on Saturday soaked Oak Hill Country Club, but Sunday has proven to be a perfect day to contest the 2023 PGA Championship.

At the start of the day, Brooks Koepka held a one-shot lead over Viktor Hovland and Cory Conners, but Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy were also in hot pursuit.

See a complete list of the golf equipment all the contenders at Oak Hill are using as they try to win the Wannamaker Trophy.

We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

‘I didn’t know that’: U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson didn’t know the CW broadcasted LIV Golf

When asked where he watches LIV Golf, Johnson offered a subtle if unintended snub to the CW network.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Zach Johnson was squarely focused on his own golf game during the final round of the 2023 PGA Championship, finishing an uneven day with a 71, one that included five birdies, four bogeys and a double on No. 17. Although he survived the cut, Johnson struggled to a 10-over 290 through four days at Oak Hill Country Club.

But Johnson is also taking notice of the field, as the selection process for the 2023 Ryder Cup is fast approaching and he’s handling his first tour of duty as the U.S. team captain.

When asked if he would attend a LIV Golf event to scout prospective players, Johnson implied that he would not. And then, when asked where he watches the upstart golf series, the Iowa native offered a subtle if unintended snub to the network broadcasts.

Here’s how the exchange with the reporter went:

Q. Do you get the CW … to watch their broadcast or YouTube?

ZACH JOHNSON: CW?

Q. That’s where it’s on television?

ZACH JOHNSON: I didn’t know that. I do get to see it — I have to ask my kids. I think I get the CW.

As for the team he needs to help build, six players automatically qualify through a point system that would require LIV players to win at least one or more majors to be in the running.  Johnson will have six picks to round out the rest of the team and noted that he would rely heavily on input from the six qualifiers.

When asked about Koepka, who opened the day at Oak Hill in the lead and then promptly birdied three of the first four holes to take a commanding lead, Johnson said he’s always been impressed with the Florida State product’s resolve.

“Look at his résumé prior to this week. He’s an amazing player,” Johnson said about Koepka. “What I appreciate about Brooks is just how he goes about his work in massive tournaments. He’s a rare breed mentally where he just is able to bring out his best in the most difficult and trying of circumstances.”

Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau all have Ryder Cup experience and because LIV players paid their membership dues before June 30, 2022, they retain their PGA of America membership through the end of June 2023 and then through a grace period that runs through the end of June 2024. That means each could be eligible for selection to the team.

Johnson said he’s taking chemistry into consideration when considering his half-dozen picks.

“I mentioned chemistry. I don’t think I mentioned character,” Johnson said. “So take that in context. I mean, chemistry is important on any team. It’s important with any leadership of any team. It’s important with anything you’re trying to construct if you want to go out and win. My No. 1 goal as the leader is to go put these guys in a position to win, whatever that looks like. Time will tell.”

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Photos: Teaching pro Michael Block’s magical run at the PGA Championship has been something to see

It’s been an incredible week for Block, the California club pro who entered the final day in a tie for eighth place.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It’s been a magical week for Michael Block, the California club pro who entered the final day of the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in a tie for eighth place.

Block was stunned when he found out he’d be paired with Rory McIlroy on Sunday. No golf club pro has ever placed higher than 11th in a PGA tournament.

During the second round, Block, the 46-year-old head professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California, birdied his first hole of the day to move into a tie for second place behind leader Bryson DeChambeau. He then birded his third and fifth hole.

He found himself in the company of such notables as Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Scottie Scheffler early in the second round of the PGA Championship and ended up shooting a second consecutive round of even-par 70 to ensure that he’d make the 36-hole cut. When his day was complete, he was tied for 13th place.

By Sunday he’d become a cult favorite of sorts, drawing crowds and cheers prior to this round.

One of the endearing features of this major is that several spots in the field are reserved for club pros like Block — and occasionally they make some noise, but rarely like Block has. He has been named the Southern California PGA Player of the Year in nine of the last 10 years (2013-2022, with the exception being 2017). He’s also a past California State Open champion.

The last PGA Professional to finish among the top 40 for the entire championship was Steve Schneiter, who tied for 40th in 2005 at Baltusrol.

Here’s a look at Block’s magical run in photos.

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PGA Championship: No. 13 has been a monster and it might make the difference at Oak Hill

The 612-yard hole has not yielded an eagle this week, and it will not be reachable on Sunday.

The 13th hole at Oak Hill Country Club is a monster par 5, playing to 612 yards in the fourth round of the PGA Championship.

The hole has not yielded an eagle this week, and at that length and with a creek running through the middle of the fairway, it will not be reachable on Sunday.

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The hole has been cut 7 yards from the front-middle portion of the green, which seems like an exposed location, but the flag is in a tricky spot.

The entire green complex tilts from back to front, but the hole is at the top of a thumbprint-style depression. Any ball that stops above the flag will leave a screamingly-fast putt, and shots that go left or right will leave a putt with a lot of break.

The make a birdie on Sunday, players will have to leave the ball below the hole and then putt up to it.

Club pro Michael Block celebrates another great 2023 PGA Championship round with beers at local pub

“I’ve learned at this point to enjoy the moment, to sit back and relax and enjoy it because it goes by fast.”

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — How did PGA club pro Michael Block, the Cinderella Story of the 105th PGA Championship, celebrate another hard day’s work of shooting even-par 70 at Oak Hill? He hit the town still dressed in his golf gear and had a few pints at the Pittsford Pub with golf fans. (Hey, he doesn’t tee off until 2 p.m. ET today.)

Block, 46, who teaches at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California, enters the final round tied for eighth and paired with Rory McIlroy, a day after playing with former U.S. Open champ and world No. 1 Justin Rose.

“I didn’t look at Rosey’s face for the first three holes because I’m a big fan of Rosey and I’ve watched him my whole life, and I knew it could get a little too intimidating, the fact that, holy crap, I’m sitting here playing with Justin Rose, and that might get too big for me, so I literally just kind of looked down, looked at his shoes the first couple holes, and got off to a decent start and went on from there,” Block said after his round.

Only Rose, with 14, has made more birdies this week than Block’s 13. He’s doing things that a club pro, who makes his living tending to the needs of his membership and rarely has time to play let alone practice, shouldn’t be doing and has practically never done before. Block was ahead of world No. 1 and Masters champ Jon Rahm, defending champ Justin Thomas, three-time major winner Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay, his buddy from back home in Southern California who gives him odds when they play. Nevertheless, Block has a chance to become the first PGA club pro to finish in the top 10 at the PGA Championship, and a whole lot more.

“I can compete against these guys, to be honest,” said Block, a 10-time Southern California PGA Player of the Year. “I can compete against them. I can hang. I can post a 3- or 4-under (Sunday).”

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Asked how he can stay grounded when he’s become an overnight sensation in the golf world, he said, “Have you met my wife? She will keep you down to earth more than anyone in the world. She’s an Argentinian-Italian fireball that will tell me everything you don’t want to hear, but yeah, she’ll keep me down to earth like you have no idea. It’s pretty easy for me. I grew up in St. Louis, I grew up in Iowa, kind of combination, Midwest roots. My parents would never let me get outside my box, right.

“I’m just having fun. Everyone is so cool and the people are great. We go out to dinner, everyone is so awesome, and the fans have been amazing, you guys have been great, and I’m just having a good time.”

It’s one thing to stay grounded and another to embrace the media attention that’s been showered upon him and engage in ‘walk-and-talk’ interviews with the likes of ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and CBS’s Jim Nantz, but Block is a charismatic fellow. Asked to explain how he’s handled it all with such aplomb, he said, “It’s built-in club professional. You deal with 600 different personalities, right? You’ve got a lawyer telling you how to grow grass and you’ve got an accountant telling you that the burger wasn’t cooked right. So you’ve got to deal with it and you know how to deal with everybody under the sun.

“That’s a natural thing for me. I don’t have to try to do that. I’m just being — like I said, I’m just being myself. That’s my big goal. My wife used to give me so much crap because for the first 100 interviews of my life back in the day, not with you guys but much smaller interviews, I was very, yes, yes, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, kind of what I hear honestly with a lot of the guys here when I see them doing this. It’s just like, dude…I just became way more natural. My wife really kind of told me to do that, and it’s worked out beautifully, so she was right.”

And Block also spouted off with some deep thoughts that transcend golf. He’s a modern-day philosopher, too, a Ferris Bueller in spikes.

“I’ve learned at this point to enjoy the moment, to sit back and relax and enjoy it because it goes by fast, and life goes by fast,” he said. “Before you know it, you’re 60 years old and retired and look back at the videos on this and remember that was the best week of my life, and more than likely this is probably going to be the best week of my life. So I’m going to sit back as much as I can with my friends and family at the house we rented and watch the videos tonight and see all my new followers on Instagram. It’s been crazy, it’s been awesome.”

And there’s still one more day of the Block Party to go.

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2023 PGA Championship: Viktor Hovland’s secret weapon is another tour pro, and he’s not alone

Matt Fitzpatrick, Thomas Pieters and Hovland all rely on data analytics from Edoardo Molinari.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Whether Viktor Hovland, who enters the final round trailing by one stroke, wins the Wanamaker Trophy or not this week at the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill is still to be determined, but if he does so it may be due to his secret weapon: Edoardo Molinari.

That would be the older brother of British Open champion Francesco Molinari, a former U.S. Amateur champion, three-time DP World Tour champion and European Ryder Cupper, who is serving as an assistant captain later this year in his native Italy.

Molinari also is an engineer by trade and his keen use of stats made him a trailblazer in the use of data analytics in golf. It also has led to the creation of a business that is helping some of the game’s top players learn their strengths and weaknesses, strategy and course management and how to practice more effectively. Among his students who rely on his advanced data analytics are reigning U.S. Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick, Thomas Pieters and Hovland.

“Viktor’s potential is limitless,” Molinari said. “He’s very keen on the course management. I have regular conversations with Shay (Knight), his caddie, even on the day of the round. Viktor is a super-smart kid and he understands what he wants. Sometimes he’ll ask you a very specific question and then go away and work for a month and then can see the data changing and getting better.”

Edoardo Molinari Trophee Hassan II
Edoardo Molinari of Italy celebrates following his win at the 2019 Trophee Hassan II at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

“I think Viktor realized that his course management was a weakness,” Molinari said. “His ballstriking is probably top 3 on Tour, especially when he’s playing well. He doesn’t miss a shot. It’s more like managing his few misses a little better sometimes playing a bit more aggressive off the tee because when he’s on he doesn’t really miss a fairway.”

Hovland, 25, won the 2018 U.S. Amateur, three times on the PGA Tour, played on Europe’s Ryder Cup team in 2021 and entered the week ranked 11th in the world. At the last two majors, the Norewegian held the 54-hole lead at the British Open and played in the second-to-last group at the Masters in April, but faded from the picture.

When asked to explain why he hadn’t had more success at the majors yet, Hovland explained, “I think that’s been because I’ve just been a little bit young and stupid, just going after some pins that I’m not supposed to go for even though I’m feeling good about my ball-striking and it’s easy to just feel like, yeah, I’m going to take it right at it and make a birdie here. Then you hit a decent shot, and then you’re short-sided and make bogey or double, and you just can’t do that in major championship golf. You just have to wear out center of the green.”

Hovland, who also began working with swing instructor Joe Mayo this year, compared his new-found focus on course management to the game of poker and placing smart bets depending on the hand he’s dealt.

“Within strategy in poker, there’s certain frequencies, certain things should happen, so you bet at certain frequencies. Basically I was ending up plugged in the bunker short-sided a few more times than you would think,” he explained. “It seemed like it would happen once or twice a round or something like that where I would just be in a terrible spot and cannot make a par. So (Mayo) reached out to Edoardo, and we crunched some numbers and saw that I was just a little too aggressive with my shorter irons.”

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Fitzpatrick was the first player to seek assistance from Molinari and still remains the player who is most devoted to Molinari’s data analytics approach. But his number of disciples is growing by leaps and bounds through word of mouth.

“I thought some players might come to ask for it. I thought the maximum number of players I could manage was 10 players. I thought in 3-4 years if I had 10 players, I’d be happy. Within 3 months, we had 10 players signed up. I had to hire a guy part-time, hired another guy. Both are full-time now,” Molinari said. “We have 10 (clients) on the PGA Tour and another 20 on the DP World Tour, a couple of Champions tour and LPGA.”

South African pro Brandon Stone isn’t currently working with Molinari but he may have summed up best why so many players are knocking on the door of ‘The Stat Man’ and asking for help.

“You’re always looking for that 1 percent you can gain on everyone else,” Stone said. “(When I worked) with Eddie, I gained closer to 5 percent.”

Initially, Molinari’s company, Statistic Golf, provided only stats but he has since added course management and how to practice more effectively (Molinari isn’t the only skilled player to enter this burgeoning cottage industry; Golfweek chronicled the story of Hunter Stewart last year).

Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open in June; one can only imagine what a second major in less than a year for one of Molinari’s clients would do for his business. Asked last month if Hovland’s game suited a particular major, Molinari said the U.S. Open or PGA Championship.

“It needs to be very difficult off the tee to serve him best. He’s one of the best drivers of the ball. If there is a weakness in his game, it is chipping from tight lies. But there’s a lot of grass around the green at those majors so it’s less of an issue,” he explained.

Hovland, who shot even-par 70 at Oak Hill on Saturday, will play in the final group on Sunday alongside leader Brooks Koepka. Hovland’s best result this season is a T-3 at the Players Championship in March and his last win was at the Hero World Challenge for the second straight year in the Bahamas in December. In fact, all of his Tour wins have been on tropical islands: in Puerto Rico and twice in Mexico near the resort town of Cancun. It’s ironic given he grew up in the cold of Norway.

“Sometimes I tease him that it’s about time he wins on a serious golf course, not at a tourist place,” Molinari said.

This slice of Western New York, where there was a frost delay on Thursday, has never been confused for a tropical locale and Oak Hill would most certainly qualify as “a serious golf course.”

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