Tag: 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Robert MacIntyre looked disgusted with his tee shot on the par-3 14th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, then it went in for an ace

Just once it’d be nice if this happened to me.

AVONDALE, La. — We’ve all been there. You hit a shot, look where it’s going, then hang your head in disgust as it flies miles from your target. But when you get up to the ball, it’s 100 times better than expected.

Well, Robert MacIntyre had this happen to him Thursday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but on another level.

On the par-3 14th at TPC Louisiana, the Scottsman hit his tee shot and immediately looked displeased. He hung his head and walked over to his bag. To his credit, the ball did land several yards before the green.

Then it got a hop. Then it kept rolling. Then it found the bottom of the cup.

When the camera panned back to the tee, MacIntyre looked borderline confused.

Then elation set in.

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Masters champ Scottie Scheffler on his congratulatory note from President Bush: ‘He’s got to do some work on his handwriting’

“Stuff like that is pretty cool. To have someone like that to reach out just to congratulate me is pretty special.”

Scottie Scheffler says becoming a Masters champion at age 25 is still just sinking in, but he’s experienced a few small perks along the way that have reminded him how cool it is to be the winner of the green jacket.

That included a handwritten letter from former U.S. President George W. Bush. Apparently 43’s handwriting was difficult for Scheffler to read.

“I hear he’s a good artist now. He’s got to do some work on his handwriting,” Scheffler said. “Stuff like that is pretty cool. To have someone like that to reach out just to congratulate me is pretty special. That’s probably kind of the only moments I’ve had where I kind of sit and reflect on what’s happened the past month and a half, two months. Obviously the Masters is such a different event than the rest of them. Just getting some messages like that from people I’ve looked up to for so long is really special.”

When Scheffler was asked to elaborate and name who sent some of the messages to him, he said, “I’m not really on social media. My wife has showed me a few things that people have posted, like Michael Phelps posted me in one of his stories, and then (Ezerkiel Elliott) from the Cowboys sent me a message. Just random stuff like that where I’m able to sit back – Michael Phelps is just insane. The guy is one of the greatest athletes ever. For him to reach out and post something about me or whatever is pretty cool.

“That’s kind of some of those moments where I’m able to sit back and kind of reflect on what happened and just be really grateful for it because stuff like that doesn’t come around too often. So it’s pretty special.”

Scheffler won the Masters on April 10, shooting a final-round 1-under 71, and beat Rory McIlroy by three strokes. In doing so, he became the fifth different world No. 1 player to leave Augusta National with a green jacket.

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Biggest challenge facing Zurich Classic favorites Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland? Walk-up music.

“I’d say we’re pretty good friends now,” said Morikawa of his growing friendship with Hovland.

Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland need a song. Not for karaoke, although that would be a fun team-building activity this week in New Orleans.

The World Nos. 2 and 5, respectively, are teaming up at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans and about the most pressing issue for this dynamic duo is the question of what walk-up music to play on the first tee Saturday at TPC Louisiana.

On Monday, Morikawa asked his Twitter followers for help and they responded with nearly a thousand replies, but as of their pre-tournament press conference on the eve of the tournament, these two twenty-something stud golfers hadn’t pulled the trigger yet.

“Have our list we’re supposed to fill out that I believe the deadline’s tomorrow. So if you have any recommendations, we’re taking answers right now,” said Morikawa, who noted that it’s not his style to wait to the last minute. “I think we need to finish this right now.”

Hovland isn’t on Twitter, but he’s a music junkie who loves heavy metal and has previously listed Metallica, System of a Down and Tool as his favorite bands. As Morikawa observed, they like different genres.

“I have no problem picking something, but we’ve got to walk up there together,” he said. “So, trying to figure something out that’s going to work. Either way, we’ll figure it out.”

“It will be great, no matter what,” Morikawa added.

But at the end of the presser, when the questions were directed at Hovland to answer in his native Norwegian, Morikawa was adamant about one thing.

“We will not be doing a Norwegian band,” he said. Not even The Beatles’s Norwegian Wood?

Despite their struggles reaching a resolution on what song to play, Morikawa and Hovland are a team to be feared. In nearly three years since turning pro, they have each won six times around the world with Morikawa claiming two major titles. Their ball striking ability is other-worldly with Hovland third this season in Strokes Gained: Approach and Morikawa ranking No. 7. (He was first last season.)

“Everyone knows what our games are. We’re not hiding anything. It’s out there. You can see all our stats. You can see how we play. They are very similar games,” Morikawa said. “It just shows that, when times are under pressure or you’re put on a stage like alternate shot, you show up, and you’re ready to hit some good shots and you’re ready to perform.”

Based on the stats, having the top two ballstrikers in the field on the same team should make them the runaway favorites to win the title in the Big Easy, but if they have an Achilles heel it is around the green, where Hovland ranks 205th and Morikawa isn’t a whole lot better at 183rd in SG: Around the Green.

Last year in the Tour’s only team event, Hovland played with fellow Norwegian and former Oklahoma State teammate Kris Ventura and finish T-25 after a disastrous final-round 78 while Morikawa missed the cut with Hovland’s college teammate, Matthew Wolff. Hovland and Morikawa’s mutual admiration society began a while ago but may have peaked when they dueled to a tie in their Ryder Cup singles match in September at Whistling Straits, where they combined to shoot a best-ball 59. In December, Hovland rallied from six strokes back in the final round to defeat Morikawa at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. Still, that didn’t stop Morikawa from popping the question about partnering up for Zurich.

“Our caddies were really good friends. They started staying together. We’d show up and have dinner together and kind of grew a friendship,” Morikawa explained. “I’d say we’re pretty good friends now.”

To hear them describe how their team came to be sounds a lot like a couple detailing the courting of a prom date.

“When he first asked me in Bahamas, I was really excited,” Hovland said. “You kind of have to play hard-to-get a little bit and had to make him kind of work for it a bit.”

“Viktor likes to put things off to the last minute, and I hate that,” Morikawa said. “Then I kind of circled him right before he won in Dubai on the DP World (in February), right before his playoff, and I was like, ‘So are we doing this?’ And he looked at me, and he was kind of questioning what was going on. Then that came to be. I solidified that and signed us up.”

Now if they could just settle on a song for their walk-up music – no Norwegian pop – Morikawa would be happy to get down to business and winning the outlandishly large silver belt buckles that go to the champions.

“Send the form to me, I’ll fill it out,” Hovland said to Morikawa. “I promise.”

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Ryan Palmer keeps teeing up World No. 1 partners at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, this year with Masters champ Scottie Scheffler

“Word out there is I’m chasing ringers, but I kind of put it out there, they’re asking me to play,” said Palmer.

It’s safe to say that Ryan Palmer was never afraid of approaching the prettiest girl in school and asking her to dance.

Since the Zurich Classic of New Orleans switched from the typical 72-hole stroke-play individual format to a two-man team competition in 2017, Palmer has partnered with Jordan Spieth (2017-18), Jon Rahm (2019, 2021) and this week, he will play with fellow Texas native, reigning World No. 1 and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler for the first time.

It’s led to some good-natured ribbing from his fellow pros, that Palmer, No. 86 in the world, has continued to upgrade partners the way some techies trade up for the latest-greatest model of a certain phone, as all three of Palmer’s partners have been ranked No. 1 in the world. Justin Thomas teased Palmer on Twitter, wondering what’s the average world ranking of his three partners in the event played annually at TPC Louisiana.

But Palmer, 45, wants to set the record straight on his partner-picking prowess.

“Word out there is I’m chasing ringers, but I kind of put it out there, they’re asking me to play,” he said.

To Scheffler, partnering with Palmer made all the sense in the world. He noted that they both work with the same trainer, Troy Van Zieben, and swing coach, Randy Smith, who teaches out Royal Oaks Golf Club, where Scheffler was a member, and play matches at home regularly with the likes of Spieth and former Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo. Palmer recalled meeting Scheffler when he was just in high school.

“I remember hitting balls, and he was 5 foot nothing,” Palmer said. “I’ll never forget when he came back from school, from Texas his freshman, sophomore year, and he was almost 6’2″, and I was like, my goodness, who’s this guy?”

Palmer, a 19-year Tour veteran who won the Zurich Classic alongside Rahm in 2019 for one of his four Tour titles, approached Scheffler about partnering up for the New Orleans staple in February after Rahm informed him that he was planning to skip the event this year. Scheffler had played with Bubba Watson previously, but Palmer knew that Watson was planning to join forces with Harold Varner III this time. Palmer also had a feeling that Scheffler would be itching to get back to work after the Masters and wouldn’t sit out until the AT&T Byron Nelson in Dallas next month.

“I knew he wouldn’t play in Hilton Head, wasn’t going to Mexico, wasn’t playing the week before the Nelson (at the Wells Fargo Championship), so I was like there’s no way he takes four weeks off. He can’t. That’s kind of how I put it,” Palmer explained. “The thing that really sealed it was I sent a picture of me and Jon with the trophy, but I (Photoshopped) his face on it.”

At the time, Scheffler had just notched his first victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He has since won four of his last six starts, the hottest stretch of golf since Jason Day achieved a similar run in 2015.

“It was pretty easy, when he asked me to play,” Scheffler said of pairing with Palmer. “It’s not like he started chasing me last Saturday.”

Palmer joked that Scheffler had to win twice.

“After he won twice, we firmed it up,” Palmer said. “That was the joke behind it. You’ve got to be a multiple winner for me to come to you.”

Scheffler’s torrid run was topped off by winning the Masters on April 10. Former President George Bush sent him a congratulatory letter, Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott messaged him on social media and Olympian Michael Phelps mentioned him in an Instagram story. Scheffler has only worn his Green Jacket around the house.

“When my wife asks me to do stuff at home, sometimes I’ll grab it out of the closet and look at her, huh, really? It hasn’t worked yet,” he said.

After lounging around the house for five days, Scheffler started practicing for this week on Saturday and then celebrated Easter with his family.

“Monday I was just itching to get back out on the golf course,” he said. “So I guess Ryan was right, taking four weeks off in the middle of the season is too long for me.”

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Bill Haas is elated to have 68-year-old father as a partner in Zurich Classic of New Orleans

“I tried to discourage him, that he needed a partner that could help him a little bit more,” said his father.

Bill Haas would not take no for an answer.

In his search for a partner for the Zurich Classis of New Orleans, the PGA Tour’s only official team competition, Haas had his eye on one player.

Didn’t matter if he hadn’t played in a PGA Tour event since 2010. Didn’t matter that he hadn’t made a PGA Tour cut since 2006. Didn’t matter if his last PGA Tour win came in the 1993 Texas Open.

And it didn’t matter if the player tried to persuade Haas to look elsewhere.

“I tried to discourage him, that he needed a partner that could help him a little bit more,” the player said. “I said, are you sure? I don’t want you to waste a week just to play with me. We can play any time. I kind of kept thinking, well, he’s going to come to his senses and find one of his buddies.”

Well, Haas did find a buddy to play with him – his dad, Jay. Father Haas, 68, finally gave his son the answer he was looking for and the two will begin play Thursday at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, Louisiana.

It will be the elder Haas’ 799th start on the PGA Tour, his first since missing the cut in the 2010 Players Championship. He has played four times on the PGA Tour Champions this year; he’s won 18 titles on the senior circuit to go along with nine PGA Tour titles.

“Just being with him out here and being on the same range with him again, looking down the aisles here and just seeing all the great players that we have, so it’s something I’ve been thinking about, certainly nervous about,” Jay Haas said. “Yesterday didn’t help me in any way because I didn’t play very well. So hopefully I’ll get better as the week goes on. It’s just fun being here, again being with Bill, getting the adrenaline flowing, and hopefully we can do better than I’m anticipating I’m going to do.

“The more I thought about it, the more I’m loving it. All the guys out here have been great. So many people have said this is unbelievably cool that you’re getting to do that.”

Bill Haas Jay Haas
Captain Jay Haas of the United States Team watches the play alongside his son Bill on the eighth tee during the Saturday foursomes matches at The Presidents Cup at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea on October 10, 2015 in Songdo IBD, Incheon City, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Bill Haas, 39, who will be making his 442nd PGA Tour start, is glad his dad will be by his side. The winner of the FedEx Cup in 2011 and six PGA Tour titles can’t wait for Thursday to come.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to play together. Pretty special to be able to have your dad play in a PGA Tour event with you,” Bill Haas said. “I love him watching me play. Last week he came down and my mom came down and watched me at Hilton Head. I just enjoy him being out there. He listens to me go through my rounds on the phone or in person sometimes. When he’s there, he sees what I’m talking about, and he helps me with my game.

“It’s just a good opportunity to play golf and enjoy it and have fun, but also inside the ropes be competitive and him be able to see what I’m talking about when I say either I’m struggling or here I hit a good one, what do you see here?

“It’s just a special week. Something that I’m really looking forward to and I’ll remember forever.”

The two have played as a team before in non-official tournaments hosted by Peter Jacobsen, the other by Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon. As for now, the senior Haas has no intention of making an 800th PGA Tour start. He just wants to concentrate on No. 799 and have fun with his son.

“I tell people that I still see the shot and I still think I can do it, and a lot of times it doesn’t come off that way,” he said. “This is a pretty good eye opener. I’ve played with Bill at home a lot, and he’s 30, 40, 50 (yards) in front of me and it’s a steady diet of it. This is one of the longest courses out here. So it’s probably not the greatest spot for me to debut. I still feel like I can do it at certain times.

“With a partner, a great partner, hopefully I can contribute when the time comes and not embarrass myself. I don’t want to just show up and go through the motions. The competitive spirit in both of us, and certainly me, I’m going to be hard on myself, but I always am. I always have been. I kick myself all the time hitting bad shots.

“Hopefully I can hit some good shots and make some birdies and everything, but ultimately, to be with my son, again, on the grandest stage here, that’s what I’m trying to take from it.”

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