To say it was a slow start at the 2023 Ryder Cup for the United States would be an understatement.
In the morning foursomes matches, Europe won every one, taking a controlling 4-0 lead into afternoon fourball. In fact, the Europeans dominated to the point where the United States never led in any of the morning matches.
Not until Justin Thomas, who many deemed a controversial captain’s pick, birdied the par-4 sixth hole in fourball did the United States finally take a lead in a match at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. Seems taking the guy who has made a name for dominating in team competitions could pay off after all.
The lead was short-lived, however. Viktor Hovland, playing with Tyrrell Hatton against Thomas and Jordan Spieth, threw a shot to a couple feet on the par-3 seventh and converted for birdie to tie the match back up.
However, the Europeans are in total control early. Last week at the Solheim Cup in Spain, the Americans were up 4-0 after the opening session and ended up tying the Europeans, who retained the cup.
We’ll see whether the American men can turn it around, but it has to happen quick.
ROME — Julie Elion sat in the back of the interview room at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club on Tuesday and tried to remain inconspicuous as Justin Thomas conducted his Ryder Cup press conference. Midway through the question and answer session, Thomas was asked how he has managed to get in a better head space.
“You have to work on what’s going on between your ears just like I do my yardages with my wedges,” he said.
Then he threw some love to Elion, who has helped the golfer who struggled for the past year, with his self-belief.
“I think she’s done a great job,” he said.
Speaking to Golfweek in Napa a week ago, he added, “It’s been great for me given the timing of the year I had. Not that I can’t talk to my parents or (wife) Jill or any friends or anything, but it’s nice to hear some unbiased opinions. She’s great. She’s very good at letting you be the one that comes up with the solution or the answer to what’s going on, I’d say.”
Being at the Ryder Cup is old hat for Elion. This is the 10th Cup between Ryder and Presidents Cups, where one of her clients has been on at least one of the teams. This week, she counts three members of Team USA – in addition to Thomas she has helped Max Homa and Wyndham Clark, the reigning U.S. Open champion, perform well enough to make the team.
Thomas credits caddie Jim “Bones” Mackey for suggesting Elion to him.
“Bones brought it up just based on some of the things I was explaining on how I felt,” Thomas said. “He was like I think there’s someone worth talking to.”
Elion previously worked with Phil Mickelson, the former boss for Bones, for several years and began working with Thomas in late January.
“I think he’s one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met,” said Elion, who in addition to being a good sounding board has reminded Thomas that “talent never goes away.”
Thomas is winless since the 2022 PGA Championship and bombed out of the U.S. Open and British Open. He failed to make the top 70, finishing 71st at the end of the regular season and missing the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career. He was a controversial captain’s pick by Zach Johnson.
“I think what Zach was saying, ‘You don’t leave JT at home,’ he just has an ability to show up when needed and wanted. He’s both needed and wanted this week. He’s a fighter. He said it today, ‘He shakes hands and then he wants to kill you.’ I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side.”
The mental side of the game has long been under appreciated; there have always been players who have recognized its importance. Homa had a breakthrough season, winning twice and climbing into the top 10 in the world, while Clark, who was winless until this season, has credited his improved attitude and confidence with winning twice and qualifying to represent Team USA for the first time. Clark began working with Elion in January after his agent and caddie undertook an intervention to convince Clark to meet with Elion.
“He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever had,” she said.
The pressure is amped up this week at the Ryder Cup, where every mistake is magnified and hurts not only the player’s performance but that of his partner and team. Elion should be a big asset to Team USA, especially for Clark and Homa, to embrace being in an uncomfortable situation for the first time.
Mental coach Julie Elion observes Max Homa during practce at the 44th Ryder Cup in Italy. (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)
“Everybody mentioned fun,” she said of the press conferences she listened to. “That seems so simple but if they stay in that lane and embrace the nerves so you can have fun, that’s one of the keys.”
Homa, for one, considers Elion an important part of his team, and knows her presence walking inside the ropes with his group and the tools she’s given him could give him an edge this week.
“I think everybody whether you play golf or not should have somebody you can talk to professionally, if you can. I do think it’s really helpful,” he said. “So much of this golf stuff consumes us but we have real life things going on and it can affect your golf. There are a million different reasons to talk to her. It’s been nice that both JT and I are working with her because we can chitchat and we know some of the things that she’ll say to us that we can almost brainstorm how to get better at it on the golf course.”
“It’s always a good week when Julie is there,” Homa added.
So many questions for both teams to answer in Rome.
The 44th Ryder Cup gets underway Friday morning at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, and there are plenty of questions surrounding both teams.
Rookies litter each roster, and some key stars on each squad are playing less than ideal coming into the week.
But the Ryder Cup is different.
Before the action, we take a look at five burning questions, starting with a player whose selection to represent the United States has been a hotly debated topic across the sport.
“I’m kind of like a gnat, like I just hang around, you know.”
By just about any measurement, Zach Johnson has exceeded expectations for his playing career.
The former Drake University golfer wasn’t even the No. 1 player on his team but, as he put it, he just kept getting better every year. So much so that he would go on to claim 12 PGA Tour titles, including two major championships, the 2007 Masters and 2015 British Open played at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. In doing so, he became only the sixth golfer to win majors at St. Andrews and Augusta National joining an exclusive group of players which includes Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
In February 2022, Johnson was named Team USA captain for the Ryder Cup, which begins Sept. 29 in Rome at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club,
Johnson has represented the U.S. side in the Ryder Cup five times as a player, being part of the winning team in 2016, and compiling an 8-7-2 record. Johnson has also served as a vice captain in the last two editions of the biennial contest in 2018 and 2021.
Attempting to win on European soil, something the American side hasn’t done in 30 years, sounds like an enormous task but Johnson just might be the right person for the job. Last week, while competing at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, Johnson sat down exclusively with Golfweek for the following Q&A.
“We have watched a lot of losses … I think that we are ready to be on the other side of that.”
The captain’s picks have been made, the teams are all set and the countdown to the Ryder Cup, which begins Sept. 29 in Rome at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, has begun in earnest.
In a little more than a week, 12 of the best players from both Europe and the United States will square off in the biennial bash as the Americans look to win the Cup on foreign soil for the first time in 30 years.
Ahead of the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup, Americans Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas participated in a wide-ranging Q&A through a partnership with Rolex that covered what makes this event so special to them as well as a primer on the course and more.
The wait for one of the best young stars in the game to get his first victory is over.
Following a stellar rookie season on the PGA Tour, many thought the 2022-23 season would be a breakout one for Sahith Theegala.
The 25-year-old California native had a good year, though it wasn’t as good as his first on Tour. He tied for second at the RSM Classic last November and had seven top-10 finishes, but he finished 31st in the FedEx Cup standings and missed out on the Tour Championship.
Earlier this week, Theegala said he was eager to play again, and it’s easy to see why.
Theegala finally got over the hump, capturing his first PGA Tour victory Sunday at the 2023 Fortinet Championship in Napa, California. Theegala finished at 21-under 267 at Silverado Resort’s North Course, and the wait for one of the best young stars in the game to get his first victory is over.
“It doesn’t feel real. It’s probably not going to set in for while,” Theegala said. “But man, that was a lot of good golf, and that was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. I had so many family and friends cheering me on, and just the support I have is mind blowing. I go to bed at night these last few days and I’m like, I can’t believe how many people are cheering for me and rooting for me.
“But man, this feeling is incredible. And I couldn’t have done it without my whole team and everyone out here. This is such a team effort, and for me to just put it together like this, it means the world, it means the world to me.”
In the final round, Theegala shot 4-under 68, including three birdies in his first five holes to take control. He led by two shots heading into a final round, and the winning margin was two after a closing bogey, but it didn’t matter.
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Justin Thomas, who was in the group at T-2 before the final round, shot even-par 72 on Sunday and finished at 15 under and solo fifth. Max Homa, a fellow United States Ryder Cup team member with Thomas and the Fortinet Championship’s two-time defending victor, finished at 13 under and T-7.
Rookie S.H. Kim finished solo second at 19 under.
Although it doesn’t count as an official PGA Tour victory, Theegala won the QBE Shootout last December with partner Tom Hoge. However, there’s no doubt about his victory Sunday in wine country.
After he finished his round Sunday, Theegala’s family was there to celebrate. They walked along every hole in the final round and were boisterous in their support.
“They meant everything,” Theegala said. “Just like the way I am, I kind of keep my head down and keep going and stay focused, but I secretly just loving the cheering. It gets me fired up. And just knowing that I have that support no matter the good golf or the bad golf, they just have my back and I hope they know that I have their back, too.
“I can’t even express how I feel. It’s a team win. It’s not just a win for me, it’s a win for the whole family and everyone.”
Sahith Theegala is closing in on his first PGA Tour win.
The first event of the FedEx Cup Fall is shaping up for a fantastic finish.
Following Saturday’s third round of the 2023 Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort’s North Course in Napa, California, there’s numerous names in contention to win a title, including Justin Thomas, who was using this week as a tune-up before the Ryder Cup in two weeks.
In the group near the top of the leaderboard includes numerous PGA Tour winners, but there are also many who are searching for their first Tour victory. With plenty at stake for the 2024 season and beyond, there’s bound to be excitement Sunday in wine country.
Here’s everything you need to know from the third round of the Fortinet Championship.
Here’s what you need to know from Friday’s second round at the Fortinet Championship.
The first event of the FedEx Cup Fall has reached the weekend, and the leaderboard is strong with 36 holes in the books.
Ths second round of the 2023 Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort in Napa, California, is complete, and there’s a California kid in front along with a PGA Tour rookie searching for their first victory. Meanwhile, a pair of U.S. Ryder Cup members, including the event’s two-time defending champion, are in position to make a weekend push.
The Fortinet Championship is the first of seven fall events on Tour, where players will battle it out to earn spots in signature-event fields at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
Here are some of the best photos from the week in Napa.
After a few weeks off, the PGA Tour returns to action in Napa, California, on Thursday for the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort’s North Course.
Two-time defending champion Max Homa, who was recently in Rome for a scouting trip of Marco Simone Golf and Country Club with the United States Ryder Cup team, has played great golf over his last five starts with five T-12 or better finishes. He’s joined in the field by fellow U.S. Ryder Cupper Justin Thomas, who tied for 12th in his last start (Wyndham Championship). In 2019, his last appearance in Napa, Thomas tied for fourth. In fact, he’s finished inside the top 10 in three straight appearances at the Fortinet.
Here are some of the best photos from the 2023 Fortinet Championship.
NAPA, Calif. — Justin Thomas looked at his arm and noticed he had goosebumps.
That was his reaction Friday to being told during a live interview with Golf Channel’s Kira Dixon that among U.S. Ryder Cup members, Rory McIlroy had said, “there are other guys on that team I’d rather face than JT.”
McIlroy, who will make his seventh appearance representing Europe in the biennial match later this month in Rome, made the comment on Golf.com’s Subpar Podcast, but Thomas said it was the first he had heard of it.
“I didn’t, that’s actually giving me goose bumps,” Thomas told Dixon. “That’s very cool for him to say. I take that as a compliment.”
During the podcast, McIlroy praised Thomas, who beat him in a singles match in 2018 in Paris, although it failed to spark a U.S. comeback.
“I felt the conversation around [Thomas being selected as a captain’s pick] was completely unjustified,” McIlroy said in a conversation with podcast hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “Because, in my opinion, being a European and knowing that I have to face some of these guys, honestly there are other guys on that team that I’d rather face than JT. So, to me it was a no-brainer. Even though he’s not had the best year and he’s struggled to perform, JT’s still one of the first guys that you put down on that tee sheet for the U.S.”
While Thomas’s performance this season created some doubt that he would be chosen to the team, he has been a force to be reckoned with on recent U.S. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams, tallying 17.5 points for the Americans across two Ryder Cups (6-2-1, including 2-0 in singles) and three Presidents Cups.
Knost noted Ian Poulter was chosen as a captain’s pick on multiple occasions more for his experience than his current form and nobody doubted the selection. McIlroy saw it differently.
“I think comparing JT to Ian Poulter does JT a little bit of a disservice in terms of their CVs and their careers and everything,” McIlroy said. “But to me, if you’re going to compare him to someone on the European team over the years, it’s probably Sergio, just in terms of that fire and that passion and obviously the resume that he has. … I totally expected [JT] to be on the team.”
“It’s a really, really strong U.S. team,” McIlroy added, “and if I were Zach, I’d be really happy with the guys that I’ve got.”
“I take that as a compliment,” Thomas told Dixon. “Rory’s a great dude. When we played singles in ’18 in France, that was a tremendous honor for me, not just for getting sent out first by Captain Furyk but playing against (Rory) and obviously coming out on top. He’s one of my best friends but at the same time we want to beat each other but we have a lot of respect for each other. It’s very nice for him to say.”
