Tag: 2020-21 PGA Tour

Surrounded by familiarity, Will Zalatoris needs to win to make FedEx Cup playoffs

Will Zalatoris has strong ties to North Carolina as a former standout at Wake Forest. Can they help in his efforts this week?

Will Zalatoris has strong ties to North Carolina as a former standout at Wake Forest. After four career victories while a Demon Deacon, Zalatoris turned professional a semester early in December 2017 to head out on Tour.

Back in town for the Wyndham Championship this week, the last regular-season stop on the PGA Tour’s 2020-21 schedule, Zalatoris already has visited with his college coach Jerry Haas as well as taken a stroll around campus with his fiancée. It’s where the two met.

“I saw Webb (Simpson) in the locker room earlier and we were kind of joking that there’s a pretty good chance we’ll end up getting paired together,” Zalatoris said of a fellow former Deacon. “Yeah, it’s going to be great. Obviously I played on the Arnold Palmer Scholarship here at Wake and I had a really great time here. Every time I come back, it’s almost spiritual in a weird way.

“Obviously we all love our alma mater, but it was really fun walking around campus yesterday.”

Will Zalatoris
Will Zalatoris watches his approach shot on the 10th hole during a practice round for The 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England on July 13, 2021. (Photo: Andy Buchanan-AFP via Getty Images)

It’s a win-or-die kind of week for Zalatoris at the Wyndham, where he’s playing on a sponsor exemption. As a Special Temporary Member on the PGA Tour, he is not eligible for the playoffs, which begin next week, unless he wins at Sedgefield Country Club this week.

WYNDHAM: Tee times, TV | Odds, picks, predictions | Fantasy

After injuring himself hitting out of thick rough at the British Open—he ultimately withdrew after the first round at Royal St. George’s—the 24-year-old said it’s “still a pretty big effort every day to get moving.” Before last week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (where he finished T-8, by the way), Zalatoris was 50-50 on playing out the regular season.

“I hadn’t touched a golf club since the British at that point,” he said. “I just said, you know what, the docs said here’s your parameters, this is what you need to look for, and I went out and actually played on that Sunday and actually felt pretty good, was moving a lot better than I thought. I’m not really getting off my right side. I mean, when you see the distances that I’m hitting balls, you’re thinking, oh, he’s fine, but I typically like hitting kind of a cover cut a lot and I’m just kind of hanging on my back foot and hitting a really high draw.

“I’m getting my speed up and it’s been consistent, but I’m doing okay. I mean, it’s kind of one of those things where I’m just going to keep listening to my body in terms of future plans. Obviously this week, it’s win or go home. Second means as much as missing a cut, so I’ve got nothing to lose this week, but obviously were I not to win, I’m going to keep listening to my body, but as a backup plan, definitely looking at going to Europe.”

There’s a comfort factor at Sedgefield this week that may work to Zalatoris’s advantage. Despite not having played here since 2018, he calls Sedgefield’s greens some of the best on Tour. He’s particularly partial to fast greens (see example: Zalatoris’s run at the Masters title in April at Augusta National).

Zalatoris has a new Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11 putter in play, too. Chalk up the switch to needing to pass the time while not hitting full shots for a couple of weeks because of injury.

“The boredom was kicking in and hitting a few putts whenever I could,” he said. “It’s been a great switch.”

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After acknowledging struggle with alcohol, Grayson Murray uses Twitter to announce he’s undergoing treatment

Grayson Murray used Twitter to announce a troubling struggle with alcohol abuse. Now, he says, he’s undergoing treatment.

Not long after using Twitter to open up about his struggles with alcoholism, Grayson Murray returned to the social media platform on Sunday with a post announcing he was seeking treatment.

Murray, winner of the 2017 Barbasol Championship on the PGA Tour, announced he’s been in treatment 12 days.

“I still have a long ways to go and have made a promise to myself that i wouldn’t leave until i was 100% ready for the real world again,” he wrote as part of the message.

In a July 24 post to Twitter, Murray revealed his struggles with Tour life that he said had led him to become an alcoholic. Murray claimed he was on probation with the PGA Tour after he got drunk in a Hawaii hotel bar despite causing “no scene whatsoever.” He also expressed disappointment that the Tour didn’t help him deal with his alcohol problem.

“We can unequivocally say that the PGA Tour is a family, and when a member of that family needs help, we are there for him. That has been the case here and will continue to be,” the PGA Tour said in a statement to Golfweek after Murray’s July 24 accusations.

Murray has played 22 events in the 2020-21 PGA Tour season but made only six cuts. He last played the weekend at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a team event in which he partnered with Rob Oppenheim.

Since turning professional in 2015, Murray has traveled a tumultuous road on the Tour, often getting himself into hot water with volatile social media posts. He was once ranked as high as No. 85 in the Official World Golf Ranking but has fallen to No. 499.

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J.T. Poston leads Barbasol, but James Hahn stole the show with a third-round 60

While it’s J.T. Poston’s name at the top of the Barbasol Championship, the most eyes were arguably on James Hahn as he shot 60.

After the third round of the Barbasol Championship, J.T. Poston remains at the top of the leaderboard. Poston’s second consecutive round of 66 at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, was enough to keep ahead of some pretty aggressive chasers.

One in particular.

While it’s Poston’s name at the top next to his 19-under total, the most eyes were arguably on James Hahn on a day when the Barbasol was pushed back because of weather and then pushed back again. The final groups didn’t even hit the first tee until shortly before 5 p.m., but by that time Hahn had made huge strides – to the tune of 46 spots – up the leaderboard. Hahn is now 17 under and in third, one shot behind Luke List in second.

After opening rounds of 69-70 at Keene Trace, Hahn came back on Saturday with a 12-under 60. He has four birdies on the front nine plus an eagle at the par-5 fifth then made four more birdies and another eagle, at the par-5 15th, on the back.

Hahn, a two-time winner on Tour, has only made nine cuts in 21 starts this season, but something clicked on Saturday.

“You know, earlier in the week I was kind of messing around with different practice routines with my putting stroke,” he said. “Yesterday actually I changed my routine, decided not to take anymore practice strokes at the ball. That freed me up a little bit, but had no idea I was going to shoot like that today.”

After he chipped in on 15 for eagle, Hahn had to do a double-take. The leaderboard showed him at 11 under for the day, but he had “no idea I was that far deep into the round.”

He had a putt for 59 on 18, but missed.

“Felt like you only get so many opportunities to shoot 59, so I wanted to be aggressive,” he said of playing the final hole. “Took driver off the tee, didn’t make a great swing but ended up in the fairway. I was lucky enough to put my hand on it. Hit a great second shot. The balls haven’t been spinning back all week and to see it spin back 20 feet was kind of heartbreaking, but I hit a good number, landed right next to the flag and I hit a really good putt. Speed was perfect, just didn’t give it enough break.”

Joseph Bramlett is also at 17 under and in a tie for third with Hahn. David Lingmerth and Seamus Power are both tied for fifth at 16 under.

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J.T. Poston rides strong ball-striking, soft greens to one-shot lead at Barbasol Championship

Combine soft conditions with what J.T. Poston called his best ball-striking in months, and it’s no wonder he has the lead.

The greens at Keene Trace Golf Club, site of this week’s Barbasol Championship, just seem to fit J.T. Poston’s eye. As a result, Poston, whose lone Tour win came at the 2019 Wyndham Championship, has a one-shot lead entering the weekend in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

“They’re a lot like what I grew up on in Hickory, North Carolina,” Poston said. “They’re bent, like you said, and they’re about the same speed as what I’m probably used to when I was a kid. Just kind of brings back some good memories of putting on that putting green growing up. It just feels normal to me. Don’t feel like I have to hit it too far, I’ve just got a good feel for the speed right now.”

Conditions are soft at Keene Trace after multiple rain storms during the first round. Combine those soft conditions with what Poston called his best ball-striking in months, and it’s no wonder he has put together rounds of 65-66 to start the event.

Ryan Armour and Joseph Bramlett, at 12 under, trail Poston by a shot.

Poston is now in his fifth year on Tour and when asked Friday to reflect on the start of his career, the putter was a theme. It has carried him through times when he felt his ball-striking was not as strong.

Scores have been low so far and the cut fell at 4 under. Poston didn’t make a bogey on Friday and made just one on Thursday. He’ll need to keep that kind of pace to stay ahead of the field on the weekend.

“I’m going to kind of approach it like I have the last two days and see if I can – I don’t even know if I’m going to be leading by the end of the day, somebody might still catch me,” he said. “If I’m leading, I’m going to try and extend that lead to as many as I can, just try to put myself in as good of position I can the last nine holes.”

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Matt Every withdraws from Barbasol Championship after reportedly tossing putter in pond

Matt Every’s early exit from the Barbasol Championship, the PGA Tour event opposite the British Open, continues a tough stretch.

Matt Every has bowed out of the Barbasol Championship, the PGA Tour event opposite this week’s British Open, and initially, there was some confusion over what caused that WD. The PGA Tour initially tweeted from its @PGATOURComms account that Every, the Arnold Palmer Invitational winner in 2014 and 2015, was out with a back injury.

The Tour then came back nearly two hours later with the clarification that Every withdrew because of heart complications.

Every opened the event at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, with a 3-under 69. On Friday, his day was decidedly less pedestrian. Starting on No. 10, he made three bogeys plus a birdie in his first four holes then doubled the par-3 14th. Two birdies and two bogeys followed.

Every’s card ends with a bogey on No. 1. In 10 holes played before withdrawing, Every did not make a par.

According to the Twitter account Monday Q Info, Every tossed his putter in a pond at No. 17 at Keene Trace and from there he began putting with a wedge.

Every’s early exit at Barbasol continues a tough year for the 37-year-old. He has teed it up 18 times on the PGA Tour this season but has yet to make a cut. Last season he made just six cuts in 19 starts.

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Brian Stuard leads at the end of start-stop day at Barbasol Championship

Brian Stuard nearly put together a flawless round on a start-stop opening day at the Barbasol Championship.

When the focus turned away from the British Open late Thursday afternoon, it shifted back stateside to Kentucky. Unfortunately, right about the time the first round of the year’s final major was wrapping up, the Barbasol Championship was stalling out.

Two weather delays at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, prevented the first round from coming to a tidy close on Thursday, and when darkness stopped play for a third time, some players had as many as six holes left.

At the top of the leaderboard, however, Brian Stuard had managed to get in a full round. He came out of the gate with five birdies in his first six holes and had a perfect round going until he got to No. 18, where he made his only bogey of the day. He finished with an 8-under 64 and leads by one shot.

“I think it’s one of those courses where you feel like if you kind of get it going, you can make some birdies,” he said of Keene Trace. “The greens are rolling great and they’re soft, so you can attack. Like you said, it’s just one that you know you’ve got to make a bunch of birdies and just try to have at it.”

That’s a good thing considering that 2019 Barbasol champ Jim Herman won at 26 under. Last year’s tournament fell victim to COVID-19.

“It was a good start, but in all honesty, it doesn’t really mean much,” Stuard said of the round. “I need three more good rounds to put myself in contention, I guess. It’s nice to start off well. Yeah, I need three more, so just got to keep going.”

The chasers are plenty. Eight men stand at 7 under, with three of them still needing to finish the first round: Patrick Rodgers, Will Grimmer and Stephen Stallings Jr.

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Preston Summerhays, 18, gets hot early at Barbasol Championship, his second PGA Tour start

Preston Summerhays, 18, is making his second PGA Tour start with eyes wide open.

Preston Summerhays’ first PGA Tour start came in a major when he was 18 years old. Last fall at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, Summerhays reaped the benefits of his first U.S. Golf Association championship. He gained entry into the 2020 U.S. Open when he won the 2019 U.S. Junior, but missed the cut at Winged Foot.

Last summer, the opportunity to defend that junior title slipped away when the championship was one of 10 USGA championships canceled because of COVID-19. By the time the U.S. Junior returns next week at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst, North Carolina, Summerhays will be too old to defend. He turns 19 on July 22, which is two days ahead of the deadline and thus makes him ineligible.

This week’s start at the Barbasol Championship seems like a nice consolation. Summerhays played his way into this event by winning the inaugural Barbasol Junior Championship last month. He was 11 under after 36 holes at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, and a had a six-shot lead when the final round was canceled because of heavy rain. He was declared the winner.

On Thursday at Keene Trace, Summerhays came out of the gate with an even-par 72. He was 3 under after three birdies on the front nine, but a double-bogey at No. 11 and a closing bogey at No. 18 set him back.

“I played decent today,” Summerhays said. “I got off to a really good start, 3 under through nine. Then hit a couple bad shots on the back side, but I feel really good about my game. Like you said, it was my second start, so I’ve been able to take some experience from the past Open and put it into this event and it’s been really fun so far.”

Summerhays is watching closely this week at how Tour players score and how they handle themselves – not that he doesn’t have an inside track on that kind of thing anyway. The Summerhays family is deep in golf, from Preston dad’s Boyd (also his caddie this week), who is a well-known instructor and former PGA Tour player, to his great uncle Bruce, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions.

As for how Preston plans to improve for the next round?

“I’ll probably just need to work on my wedges,” he said. “I probably could have hit it a little closer today. I hit a lot of great putts that just didn’t fall, but I feel pretty good overall, just need to make sure I keep hitting fairways, hit it close and make some putts.”

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Check the yardage book: TPC Deere Run for the John Deere Classic

Check out the hole-by-hole maps for TPC Deere Run, host of the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic.

TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, designed by longtime PGA Tour pro D.A. Weibring on rolling hills alongside Rock River and opened in 2000, is the annual host site of the Tour’s John Deere Classic.

The layout ranks No. 2 in Illinois on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for public-access layouts. The course was built on a 385-acre site that has been home to Native American settlements, farming, mining and most recently a horse and cattle breeding program.

Thanks to yardage books provided by Puttview – the maker of detailed yardage books for more than 30,000 courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges that players will face this week. Check out each hole below.

2021 John Deere Classic Fantasy Golf Power Rankings

The John Deere Classic returns to the PGA Tour schedule in 2021 after last year’s event was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The John Deere Classic returns to the PGA Tour schedule in 2021 after last year’s event was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A rather weak field is at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, for the final event ahead of The Open Championship. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings and odds for the 2021 John Deere Classic, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.

Brian Harman and Daniel Berger headline the field as the eighth- and ninth-ranked golfers, respectively, in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings. Dylan Frittelli is back as the reigning champion of the John Deere Classic from 2019.

TPC Deere Run is a par 71 playing to 7,268 yards. All but two of the last 11 champions of the John Deere Classic finished 20-under par or better.

Also see: John Deere Classic odds, picks and predictions

2021 John Deere Classic: Fantasy Golf Top 20

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Odds last updated Tuesday at 10:20 a.m. ET.

20. Sebastian Munoz (+6000)

Tied for 37th in 2019 after a missed cut in his first appearance at TPC Deere Run in 2017. He had a season-best finish of T-3 at the Charles Schwab Challenge before three straight missed cuts against stronger fields, but he rebounded with a T-67 last week.

19. Denny McCarthy (+10000)

Missed the cut in four of his last six events but had a couple of strong showings early this year including a T-3 at The Honda Classic. One of the top putters in this field with 0.53 Strokes Gained: Putting per round on the 2020-21 season.

18. Sepp Straka (+6600)

Collected his second top-10 finish of 2021 at the Travelers Championship before missing the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He was fifth in the field among those who made the cut at the Travelers in SG: Approach.

17. Doug Ghim (+6600)

Back up to 217th in the Official World Golf Ranking with three made cuts in his last four events including a T-14 finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Twenty-ninth on Tour in driving accuracy and averaging 0.87 SG: Tee-to-Green through 60 measured rounds this season.

16. Dylan Frittelli (+8000)

The 2019 champion of the John Deere Classic missed the cut in 10 of his 15 events this year with his lone top-10 finish being a T-9 in the WGC-Match Play. He has made just one appearance at TPC Deere Run but his 3.27 strokes gained on the field per round lead this year’s contingent.

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15. Beau Hossler (+6600)

Has been riding a hot putter to three straight top-25 finishes. He was fifth in the field among those who made the cut with 1.48 SG: Putting at TPC Deere Run in 2019.

14. Seamus Power (+3300)

Made the cut in each of the last three runnings of the John Deere Classic and has averaged 0.51 strokes gained on the field per round over his 12 rounds at this venue. He has made seven straight cuts on the PGA Tour with two top-10 finishes in that stretch.

13. Hank Lebioda (+4500)

Tied for fourth at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic with 1.52 SG: Putting per round. That’s the strongest part of his game and it’s often the difference at TPC Deere Run.

12. Zach Johnson (+4000)

His 62 rounds played at TPC Deere Run are the most in this field by a comfortable margin and he has averaged 1.55 strokes gained per round. He tied for 25th at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago.

11. Aaron Wise (+4000)

Averaging 0.97 SG: Tee-to-Green and 0.42 SG: Approach per round for the season. Has two top-10 finishes in his last five events.

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10. Si Woo Kim (+3300)

Will be focused on the John Deere Classic this week after withdrawing from The Open Championship in favor of the Olympics. He’ll be trying to get his game in top form for Tokyo.

9. Chez Reavie (+6000)

Twenty-eight career rounds played at TPC Deere Run with 0.16 strokes gained on the field per round. His putting has been disastrous this season, but he’s fourth on Tour in driving accuracy.

8. Cameron Davis (+3000)

Last week’s champ was near the top of the field in both SG: Around-the-Green and SG: Tee-to-Green. He does the bulk of his scoring on par 5s but will have one less opportunity this week at the shorter Deere Run.

7. Alex Noren (+2800)

Picked up his first top-10 finish of 2021 with a T-4 showing last week in a stronger field than this. He was strong across the board while averaging 1.70 SG: Tee-to-Green, 0.67 SG: Off-the-Tee and 0.64 SG: Around-the-Green.

6. Kevin Streelman (+2200)

Didn’t play this event in 2019 but tied for seventh in 2018 with a field-best 1.19 SG: Around-the-Green per round. He had four straight top-20 finishes before missing the cut at the Travelers Championship.

5. Kevin Na (+4500)

Leads all qualified golfers with 0.63 SG: Around-the-Green through 58 measured rounds this season. He’s also 36th in driving accuracy and is looking for his second win of 2021.

4. Russell Henley (+1800)

The 2019 runner-up is 46th on Tour in driving accuracy and tied for 14th in par 4 efficiency from this week’s key distance of 400-450 yards. He was in top form in the US Open and should finish better against the weaker field.

3. Daniel Berger (+1000)

This week’s betting favorite is the second-best player in the field by the Golfweek rankings. He has made five straight cuts and is coming off of a T-7 at the US Open but is likely to be looking ahead to The Open.

2. Brian Harman (+1400)

The 2014 champion of the John Deere Classic has averaged 1.08 strokes gained on the field over 24 career rounds at TPC Deere Run. He returns as the top-ranked player in the field.

1. Sungjae Im (+1600)

Tied for eighth last week while ranking in the top five of the field among those who made the cut in SG: Around-the-Green and SG: Tee-to-Green.

Like Kim, he won’t be participating in The Open while focusing on medaling at The Olympics in order to avoid military service in South Korea.

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Lynch: Missteps by Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau expose an attitude that the media exists only to flatter

Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau are usually better in their approach to media than they showed this week.

The relationship between professional athletes and the press is fraught by its very nature, moreso in the wake of Naomi Osaka suggesting that media questioning is injurious to her mental health. However, at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, two of golf’s biggest stars seemed more concerned about damage to their pride and ego.

Start with Phil Mickelson. He took exception to a Detroit News article detailing how he had been cheated out of a gambling win more than 20 years ago by a local bookie with ties to organized crime. Mickelson’s attorney acknowledged the accuracy of the report, but the six-time major winner fixated on the timing of it, suggesting it was an effort to embarrass him and the tournament. He repeatedly slammed the author of the story as “opportunistic,” “selfish” and “divisive,” then declared he wouldn’t return to the event.

“The lack of appreciation—I don’t see me coming back,” he fumed. “It’s hard for me or somebody to come in and bring other people and bring other entities involved to help out because you’re constantly being torn down, as opposed to brought together and built up.”

Mickelson has a point: If any other PGA Tour player fears it being revealed that he was soaked for $500,000 by a mobbed-up Michigan bookie then he might indeed have second thoughts about playing in Detroit, but Phil seems to have cornered the market on that status for now. The only person threatening adverse consequences for the Rocket Mortgage Classic and its charitable causes as a direct result of this story was Mickelson himself.

Phil Mickelson, Rocket Mortgage Classic
From left, Nolan Kern, Logan Beyer and Connor VanSumeren, all of Bay City, wearing Phil is God t-shirts cheer for Phil Mickelson as he walks by them on the second fairway during the second round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. (Photo by Detroit Free Press)

The events revealed by the Detroit News are old, but that doesn’t make it old news. The details had not previously been reported, and it’s indisputably news when a famous athlete is taken for a half-million by a shady gambler. Nevertheless, Mickelson’s outrage found predictable support among those social media lickspittles who are always eager to be seen by celebrities as loyal supplicants, pitiably slobbering for a like, retweet or (praise be!) a reply.

Mickelson has every right to object to coverage he considers unfair, but underlying his response is a troubling expectation that media must function as cheerleaders when the Tour comes to town, and that failure to do so—by writing unflattering stories about him, for example—hurts the event and its charitable beneficiaries. Conflating his embarrassment with damage to the Rocket Mortgage Classic is preposterous, and accusing a reporter of deliberately hurting citizens in a deprived city by denying them the pleasure of his presence is bush league nonsense.

By Friday, Mickelson was gently backpedaling on his threatened boycott, pointing to a fan’s online petition promising 50,000 signatories imploring him to change his mind. “The people here were so nice that I’ll make a deal with them,” he said. “If he gets 50,000 and all of those 50,000 agree to do one random act of kindness for another member of the community, I’m in.”

Thus can individual churlishness be rebranded as communal charity.

It all had a faint echo of George Costanza. “I think I could be a philanthropist,” George mused in a long-ago Seinfeld episode. “Then they would come to me and beg! And if I felt like it, I would help them out. And then they would owe me big time!”

Mickelson has a well-honed public persona that is engaging and funny. He’s been subject to many unflattering articles in a long career and typically handles it with aplomb. That he chose to wage this war—and in doing so amplify the story to a much wider audience than it might otherwise have reached—seems an uncharacteristic fumble.

Not so uncharacteristic was the misstep of Bryson DeChambeau, whose Wednesday press conference was notable for his insistence that a final-nine 44 when leading the U.S. Open two weeks ago was down to “luck.” He refused to speak with media after playing Thursday and Friday on his way to missing the cut. It happens that players sometimes blow off the press after a lousy day. It’s not a capital offense. But DeChambeau wasn’t ducking questions about poor play but rather inquiries about why his longtime, long-suffering caddie Tim Tucker quit between a Wednesday practice round and a Thursday tee time. Those questions can and will wait until next time.

More significantly, DeChambeau was the defending champion at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He is also personally sponsored by Rocket Mortgage. At least one of those attachments comes with obligations that a mature professional would honor. Ignoring both might reasonably have Rocket Mortgage wondering what exactly they are paying for.

Bryson DeChambeau discusses his next shot with new caddie Ben Schomin on the 9th tee box during the first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic golf tournament. (Photo: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)

It was at this event in 2020 that DeChambeau was widely criticized for suggesting—after a terse exchange with a cameraman who filmed him reacting angrily to a bad shot—that golf media needed to protect his brand and not show players in a poor light. For all his positive attributes, DeChambeau struggles to handle the emotions that attend uncomfortable questioning by the press. That he seems no better equipped for it this year than he was last year reflects poorly on his willingness to learn, or on his team’s willingness to teach.

Mickelson and DeChambeau are usually better in their approach to media than they showed this week. On Tuesday, both will return to cheerful glad-handing when they participate in The Match on July 6 alongside Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. It’s a hit and giggle of little consequence, but it will illustrate a prevailing attitude toward the press: media that applaud and help sling product are good, media that pose awkward questions are bad. It’s the same binary equation beloved by bullshitters the world over. Not just in golf. And not just in sport.

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