It could have been a historical year for Louis Oosthuizen but instead ended winless.
LAS VEGAS – Lesser men may have crumbled.
Finish in a tie for second behind Phil Mickelson, who became the oldest player to win a major at the 2021 PGA Championship. Fall one shot shy of Jon Rahm in the 2021 U.S. Open after leading by one with two holes to play. Set the British Open 36-hole scoring mark and lead after each of the first three rounds but come up short as Collin Morikawa won the Claret Jug in 2021.
And then, the very next week — finish in a tie for second at the 3M Open.
It could have been a historical year for 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen but one that ended winless. But the soft-spoken South African, whether riding a tractor or a horse on his new farm in Florida or during other idle times, didn’t think back and wonder what could have been last season.
“Not really,” said Oosthuizen, who makes his season debut this week in the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin. “I think it was more just after the events that sort of you think what could have been and you try and shake it off really quickly because there was always the next one coming, the next event.
“It could have been a really good season, but my whole goal always is to try and get my game in a good spot when it gets to majors and try and give myself a chance playing the back nine of a major championship and see if I can do something. And I’ve done that pretty well last year and it’s now just getting that next step by winning a championship.
“Would have liked one win at least in the majors there, but all in all a good season and just ready to take the new season on.”
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Not all was lost at the majors for Oosthuizen, 38, who has 14 worldwide wins but is still searching for his first on American soil. He has come upon a blueprint to follow when it comes to preparing for the game’s four biggest events.
“I think I’ve learned a way to do it; rest quite a bit before, take a bit of time off and then give a certain amount of time before the tournament to start working on things and always work short game,” said Oosthuizen, who tied for 19th in last year’s Shriners. “Doesn’t matter which event it is, you just try and keep your short game as sharp as possible. But there are certain things that you are looking for in your game, try and get it out in the other events and try things under pressure when you play other events. By the time you get to the major, you should know what to do when you’re in that situation.
“But I think my team has a pretty good way of preparing for (majors) and now it’s just up to me to step over that line to get that second major.”
It seems Brooks isn’t too worried about the upcoming battle
LAS VEGAS – Ahead of the Ryder Cup, Brooks Koepka on multiple occasions downplayed his lengthy, on-going quarrel with Bryson DeChambeau by saying he could put up with anybody for a week.
Friction between the two feuding stars was feared in the team room but Koepka was good to his word and they buried the hatchet for the week and eventually hugged in front of the assembled media Sunday night after Team USA dismantled Europe at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
Well, Koepka will put up with DeChambeau for at least another day.
The two will go mano a mano the day after Thanksgiving in the fifth playing of The Match, a 12-hole faceoff at The Wynn Golf Club on the Las Vegas Strip. To many, it’s an odd pairing considering the back and forth between the two, which escalated this summer to the point that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan stated fans heckling DeChambeau with chants of “Brooksie” would be subjected to ejection from the tournament.
“Yeah, I mean I think we’re excited (about The Match). So it’s going to be good, you’ll see it, what, the day after Thanksgiving?” Koepka said Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s start of the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin.
When asked when discussions for The Match begin, Koepka was just as blunt.
“I don’t know,” he said. “You can ask Bryson.”
And that was it. Koepka offered up nothing else on The Match. Judging from body language and the lack of long verbal responses for months, you can say the two aren’t buddies. They aren’t hateful enemies, either. Perhaps they are reluctant acquaintances, in a complicated way.
Whatever, it’s a relationship that will keep on giving at least one more time.
Team USA player Brooks Koepka looks on on the sixth green during day two foursomes rounds for the 43rd Ryder Cup golf competition at Whistling Straits. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
“I think it’s going to change the game of golf forever,” Koepka said of DeChambeau’s pursuit of more power. “If you’re going to hit it that far and you find a couple fairways, it’s tough to beat. It does get very difficult when you got wedge into hole where guys got 6-iron. Your odds are going to be in your favor.
“That’s what he’s done. It’s impressive to be able to actually change a body, change the way you swing and yet still compete out here. I think that’s probably the most impressive thing. I don’t think anybody really thought he was going to get that far (in the Long Drive competition), but the fact he did was quite impressive. So I think and it’s one of those things you’re seeing with all these younger guys.
“I think you’re just going to continually see that type of distance come from the kids that are in college or high school now that will be out here in five, six years.”
Koepka has plenty of distance, one of the many talents he has in his arsenal that have led him to winning four major championships. Last year he won his eighth PGA Tour title in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
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Now, if he can just stay healthy. In recent years, the 31-year-old has dealt with knee, wrist, hip, and neck issues that have cost him time on the PGA Tour and forced him to work around the various injuries.
“I’m still looking for that answer, man,” Koepka said when asked what he could do to stay healthy. “I don’t know. I still think I’m like 22, 23, 24 in my head, but realizing that my body can’t do the things that I used to do. I tend to take it a little bit slower and just be more cautious, I think, whether it be in the gym, at home doing certain things messing around.
“I’m not as mobile as I was years ago. So just be a little more cautious and watch it. Some things you can’t avoid, you’re always going to be a little, I don’t want to say dinged up, but a little bit, you feel something. But it’s just part of the game. You don’t feel 100 percent every week and you’re not going to.
“But just really trying to minimize the big stuff.”
Koepka looked to be just fine in the Ryder Cup, where he went 2-2-0.
“I feel like my game’s trending in the right direction. I like how everything went at the Ryder Cup,” said Koepka, who has two top-5 finishes in five starts at TPC Summerlin. “I feel like I finally saw the turn, because I thought this whole year after the injury was pretty poor. I like where the game’s headed.”
That includes his putting, which has plagued him here and there. He started to work with his putting coach, Jeff Pierce, on AimPoint and used it for the first time in the Ryder Cup.
“It wasn’t the fact I was lining up wrong or the stroke was bad, it was my green reading,” he said. “It’s just using it kind of more as not the answer, more of a double check or having an idea where this putt should be breaking, then get behind it, bend down, look at it, do my normal thing.
“They both work. Plus it takes a little bit off of having to bend down all the time on the knees, so it’s a double added bonus.”
The PGA Tour will return to Sin City through 2026.
A day before the PGA Tour’s best kick off the 39th Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin on Thursday, the Tour announced a five-year extension to the annual stop in Sin City.
“Shriners Children’s is a truly amazing organization that impacts the lives of thousands of children and families,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan via a release. “The PGA Tour is honored to partner with the Shriners to continue to help promote their mission and the great work they do throughout their locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Shriners Children’s Open has built a wonderful tradition in Las Vegas, and we couldn’t be more excited to see that secured for another five years.”
The event, sponsored by Shriners Children’s since 2008, will run through 2026. Defending champion Martin Laird highlights this week’s field that includes last week’s Sanderson Farms champion Sam Burns, two-time Shriners winner Kevin Na (2011, 2019) and U.S. Ryder Cup team members Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
“As one of our signature events, the Shriners Children’s Open raises the profile of both Shriners Children’s and Shriners International, the fraternity that founded the generous, unique health care system as its official philanthropy a century ago,” said Bill Bailey, chairman of the board of directors of Shriners Children’s and CEO of Shriners International. “We are thrilled to continue this important event and look forward to its continued success as both a sports event and a marketing and fundraising initiative for our organizations.”
“Life comes at you fast at times and you deal with it best you can.”
LAS VEGAS – Rickie Fowler celebrated his two-year wedding anniversary with his wife, Allison, on Tuesday night.
The two are expecting their first child – a girl – November 30.
And he’s concentrating on delivering a rebirth to a career that’s gone wayward.
In other words, Fowler has a lot on his mind.
After a six-week mini-fast in which he lost 5 pounds of body fat by cutting down carbs and fruit, eating healthy and working out, all the while laboring hard on his game and attending to his wife’s wants and needs, Fowler will make his first start of the season Thursday in the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin.
He’ll do so coming off his two worst seasons since he turned pro more than a decade ago. Last season, Fowler, 32, whose most recent of nine worldwide victories came in the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open, had just one top-10 in 18 starts and didn’t make the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2009. He has dropped to 125th in the official world rankings, his worst ranking since 2009. In the past two campaigns, he’s amassed only eight top-10s in 56 starts while missing 18 cuts.
“Life comes at you fast at times and you deal with it best you can,” Fowler said Tuesday at TPC Summerlin.
Rickie Fowler reacts to a missed putt on the 9th hole during the first round of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports)
The most important change to deal with is impending fatherhood. Fowler said all is well on the Allison and baby fronts and they are both counting down the days.
“She’s great. Everything’s gone very well. It’s a lot easier on my end, obviously. She’s pregnant and has to put up with me,” Fowler said. “I’ve heard from a lot of people that when the baby is born is when the light bulb goes off. Allison is leading the charge, as far as getting everything ordered and what not, and I’m trying to play a good supporting role.
“I help her out any way I can. There are plenty of people out there that try and give you their opinion on what to do and what not to do, but at the end of the day, we’re the two on site and we’ll work together and move forward.
“The thing that makes me feel a little more comfortable, because this is something new, I feel we can do it. And we both come from great families and that has trickled down. But it’s going to be a big change.”
As was his offseason plan. Fowler last played in August in the Wyndham Championship. After a week off, Fowler commenced on a two-prong attack to improve his physical state and the shape of his game. He wasn’t wiping the slate clean; instead he was following a new template.
For six weeks, he attacked workouts, his practice, and a change in his diet.
And he stuck to it.
Carbs and fruit were both a no-no during the week.
“And I love fruit,” he said.
Instead, he finished off plates featuring high protein, high fat and a lot of greens. On the weekend, he’d opt for leaner protein and less fats. His cheat day was Sunday when he had a little ice cream, some popcorn.
He also had a lot of tea at night, which helped him stay away from snacking.
“I was finally able to have a few drinks over the weekend, but I didn’t have too many, because going six weeks eating clean, I didn’t want to push it,” Fowler said. “It wasn’t the most fun. But it was a good stretch and it was about holding myself accountable, with Allison helping out on the nutrition side, and my trainer looking over the physical aspect.
“It was a good way to clean out. I’m fresh and ready to go.”
And he remains steadfast in sticking with the swing changes he started working on two years ago. Despite always being optimistic, the slump has challenged him on and off the golf course. But he is confident a return to good days are ahead.
“We’re in a good spot. It’s not fun having big chunks of time of when it’s not your choice. Looking forward to changing that,” said Fowler, who is playing this week and then will play consecutive weeks on sponsor’s exemptions in the CJ Cup just down the road from TPC Summerlin and the Zozo Championship in Japan. “What we have been working on swing side, equipment side, everyone is on the same page. That last two years, it’s not where I’ve wanted to be out here.
Here’s everything you need to know for the first round of the Shriners Children’s Open.
After a week in Mississippi the PGA Tour’s best are westward bound for a two-week stint in Sin City.
TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, ranked No. 4 on Golfweek’s Best list of private courses in Nevada, plays host to the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open this week, and will play to 7,243 yards with a par of 72.
Defending champion Martin Laird highlights a field that consists of last week’s Sanderson Farms champion Sam Burns, two-time Shriners winner Kevin Na (2011, 2019) and U.S. Ryder Cup team members Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s what you need to know for the first round of the Shriners Children’s Open. All times Eastern.
You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. All times ET.
Thursday, Oct. 7
TV
Golf Channel: 5-8 p.m.
STREAMING
RADIO
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 2-8 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 8
TV
Golf Channel: 5-8 p.m.
RADIO
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 2-8 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 9
TV
Golf Channel: 5-8 p.m.
RADIO
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 3-8 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 10
TV
Golf Channel: 5-8 p.m.
RADIO
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 3-8 p.m.
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TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas welcomes back the Shriners Children’s Open and a strong PGA Tour field this week off of Sam Burns‘ win at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings for the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.
The field is fronted by three of the top-10 golfers in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Viktor Hovland (No. 3), Louis Oosthuizen (No. 5) and Paul Casey (No. 7) are among the betting favorites looking to dethrone reigning Shriners champion Martin Laird.
Each of the last two winning scores at TPC Summerlin were minus-23, with four of the last five champions finishing 20-under par or better. The par-71 venue measures 7,255 yards and features bentgrass greens.
Led the field last week at the Sanderson Farms Championship with 1.44 Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green per round and also averaged 1.52 SG: Tee-to-Green per round. He struggled on approach to the green, but he can rely on his short game at this venue.
19. Si Woo Kim (+4000)
Has averaged 1.34 total strokes gained on the field across 16 career rounds at TPC Summerlin. Tied for eighth last year with a field-best 1.29 SG: Around-the-Green per round.
18. Brian Harman (+6000)
Tied for 13th in this event last year with a strong putting performance (1.76 SG: Putting per round) and his driver play improved throughout the season while registering five top-10 finishes thus far in 2021.
17. Cameron Tringale (+4000)
Finished T-11 last week with strong overall play. His 30 career rounds played at TPC Summerlin rank near the most in this field and include a T-19 finish last year with a strong putting display.
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16. Patrick Reed (+4000)
Playing only his second event since early August and his first event since being left off the US Ryder Cup team. He’ll be looking to make a statement despite the Americans’ victory at Whistling Straits; however, he has just five rounds played at this venue.
15. Joaquin Niemann (+4000)
Tied for 10th in 2018 and rebounded from a missed cut in 2019 with a T-13 last fall. Has missed just one cut with five top-10 finishes through 22 events this year.
14. Harris English (+3000)
Failed to impress through the FedEx Cup Playoffs following a stretch of three top-five finishes in four events, including victory at the Travelers Championship. Missed the cut here last year but averaged 0.94 SG: Off-the-Tee per round over 36 holes.
13. Hideki Matsuyama (+3000)
The reigning Masters champion missed the cut here last year, even with 1.24 SG: Putting per round. He’s still averaging 1.34 strokes gained per round across 10 rounds at TPC Summerlin.
12. Paul Casey (+3000)
Failed to qualify for the Tour Championship but racked up nine top-10 finishes along with one victory through 19 international events this year, including a T-4 at the Olympics. His excellent short game suits the venue well.
11. Brooks Koepka (+2000)
Although the former World No. 1 rarely plays during the fall swing, he has 14 career rounds played in this event with a runner-up finish in 2016. He proved at the Ryder Cup that he’s healthy.
10. Sam Burns (+2000)
Golfers are rarely worth backing the week following a victory, but Burns followed up his first career PGA Tour win with a runner-up finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson two weeks later. He led last week’s field with 3.71 SG: Tee-to-Green and 1.54 SG: Off-the-Tee per round.
9. Corey Conners (+4000)
Tied for 17th last week but was sixth with 1.70 SG: Tee-to-Green per round. His short game remains a weakness, but his iron play is well suited to this course.
8. Louis Oosthuizen (+2000)
The South African debuted at this event last year with a T-19 finish. He had three top-five finishes in his final seven events of the 2020-21 season and his short game plays well anywhere.
7. Kevin Na (+3000)
Two-time champ, including 2019, will also look to make a statement after being left off the Ryder Cup team. Only six members of the field have more rounds played here.
6. Viktor Hovland (+2000)
Debuting at TPC Summerlin this week following Europe’s Ryder Cup loss. He’s the top-ranked player in the field from the Golfweek rankings and just needs an average short game to complement his iron play.
5. Scottie Scheffler (+2000)
Missed the cut here last year following a T-74 finish in 2019. He’s a much better golfer than he was then and he’s one of the best in this field in SG: Off-the-Tee.
4. Will Zalatoris (+2000)
Started the 2021-22 season with a T-11 finish at the Fortinet Championship and a T-14 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and makes his second appearance at this event off of a T-5 finish last year.
3. Abraham Ancer (+2000)
Finished fourth here last year with 2.08 SG: Putting per round to rank second in the field. His iron play was uncharacteristically poor, but he finished the 2020-21 season with 0.57 SG: Approach per round.
2. Webb Simpson (+2000)
Leads this field among those with at least 10 rounds played at TPC Summerlin with 1.73 strokes gained per round. Won here in 2013 and tied for 13th last year while gaining 1.07 SG: Around-the-Green per round.
1. Sungjae Im (+3000)
Tied for 31st last week as one of the pre-tournament favorites but finished second with 1.39 SG: Around-the-Green per round. He tied for 13th last year and for 15th in 2018 with great tee-to-green play both years.
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Brooks Koepka and Viktor Hovland lead a strong field in Vegas.
Well, it’s officially that time of year for golf fans. It’s football season, and maybe golf takes a back seat. This week, the PGA Tour heads to TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas for the Shriners Children’s Open.
A few U.S. Ryder Cup team members have made their way to Vegas; Brooks Koepka, Harris English, and Scottie Scheffler. So maybe this week won’t be a wash after all, especially with other big names in the field like Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, Viktor Hovland, Will Zalatoris, and Louis Oosthuizen.
Let’s jump into all the stats and see if we can find winner.
Golf course
TPC Summerlin
Par 71
7,255 yards
Back for some desert golf this week; artificial water features, bentgrass greens, with a few mountains and canyons to look at. Not my favorite type of golf if I’m going to be honest. Granted, it’s not the same desert golf as the Waste Management, but still.
According to DataGolf, performance off the tee is the least important statistic this week. Short golf course, with fairways on the generous side, is a receipt for every single player in this field to have an opportunity to get into contention. Just look at last years winner (Martin Laird).
Strokes gained approach: The winning score here last season was 23-under. Theses guys will need to make a lot of birdies to contend. How do you do that efficiently? Hit the ball close to the hole.
Data Golf information
Course Fit (compares golf courses based off the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. TPC San Antonio, 2. Monterey Peninsula CC, 3. St. Georges Golf and Country Club
Trending (among the players in the field): 1. Erik Van Rooyen (last 3 starts: 7, 5, T-22), 2. Kevin Na (T-17, 3, MC), 3. Louis Oosthuizen (T-17, T-38, T-14)
Abraham Ancer: Ancer had a fantastic finish to his 2020-21 campaign. Three top 10s in his last four starts, including a win at the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Ancer is one of the most consistent players on Tour when it comes to accuracy. Last year he was fifth in fairways in regulation, and 22nd in greens in regulation. He was also 12th in scoring average, which is huge this week as the winner is usually around 20-under par.
He’s played in this event three times, two of those finishes are solo fourth and T-4. This will be his first start of the new season.
+2000 to win
Abraham Ancer plays his shot from the 12th tee during the first round of The Northern Trust at TPC Boston on August 20, 2020 in Norton, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Cameron Tringale: Tringale is off to a hot start this season, with a T-22 finish at the Fortinet Championship, and a T-11 last week at the Sanderson Farms. His great play really goes back to last season, where he strung together four finishes of T-26 or better in his last five starts.
Over his last 24 rounds he’s 31st in Strokes Gained: Approach, and 18th in SG: Putting. I love this combination at TPC Summerlin due to the projected winning score coming Sunday.
He cashed in a top 20 last season at the Shriners, and finished T-2 back in 2015.
+4000 to win.
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Maverick McNealy: McNealy was close at the Fortinet Championship a few weeks ago, but a late shank led to a double bogey and a Max Homa win. However, I loved what he told our Adam Schupak during the week in Napa, and he seems extremely motivated.
He’s finished outside the top 30 just once since the PGA Championship (nine starts). But, he’s missed the cut here twice in three starts, with his best performance being a T-37 in 2020.
+5000 to win.
Maverick McNealy hits his tee shot on the first hole during the final round of the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa on September 19, 2021 in Napa, California. Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
Scottie Scheffler: Just like my relationship with Will Zalatoris (who I almost put on this list again this week), Scheffler just has to win at some point soon. This week? He’s riding on the fumes of his Sunday singles beatdown of World No. 1 Jon Rahm.
His record at this golf tournament isn’t great, with a T-74 and missed cut (shot 6-under and missed the cut, that’s tough). In his last 10 starts, he had four top tens, and seven finishes of T-22 or better.
+2000 to win.
Sleeper of the week
Pat Perez hits his tee shot on the 1st hole during round two of the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort on September 11, 2020 in Napa, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
For me, it’s impossible to look at Pat Perez and not think Vegas. And as an Arizona native, he knows desert golf as well as anyone on Tour.
He missed the cut in his last appearance at the Shriners, but in 2019 finished solo third, and grabbed a T-7 in 2016.
Over his last 24 rounds on Tour, his best two strokes gained categories have been approach (33), and putting (14). If he put’s it in the fairway this week, look for Perez to make a run.
Check out Puttview’s hole-by-hole maps of the Bobby Weed design in Las Vegas.
TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, site of this week’s Shriners Children’s Open on the PGA Tour, was designed by architect Bobby Weed with input from Fuzzy Zoeller and opened in 1991.
A desert course playing through arroyos and canyons, TPC Summerlin will play to 7,243 yards with a par of 72. The course ranks No. 4 on Golfweek’s Best list of private courses in Nevada.
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 face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.
We take a look at the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
The PGA Tour begins a two-week residency in Las Vegas with the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin. Martin Laird returns as the defending champion, but he’ll be challenged by a rather strong field. Below, we look at the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
Viktor Hovland is the top-ranked player in the field at No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings (as of Sept. 27). He’s playing his first event of the 2021-22 PGA Tour season following his loss with Team Europe at the Ryder Cup. Louis Oosthuizen (No. 5) and Paul Casey (No. 7) are also among this week’s betting favorites.
The 7,255-yard, par-71 TPC Summerlin has long hosted the Shriners Children’s Open and its many previous iterations. Course history has been important with Laird winning this event for a second time last year and Kevin Na winning in 2011 and 2019.
While no faults can be found in the 2021 US Ryder Cup team in hindsight, Na had been considered a snub by many when the team was first announced. He’ll have an early opportunity to prove those beliefs correct, despite the Americans’ lopsided victory, with his third career win at TPC Summerlin.
He tied for the low 72-hole score at the Tour Championship before missing the cut at the Fortinet Championship. The 2020-21 season finale capped a six-event stretch that included two co-runner-up finishes and a T-8 at The Northern Trust to start the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Na tied for just 43rd last year in his 2019 defense, but he was sixth among those who made the cut with 0.93 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee per round and had a subpar putting performance. His strong short game can shine at this venue.
2021 Shriners Children’s Open picks – Contender
Brian Harman (+6000)
This is a much higher number for Harman than those we got accustomed to seeing in the 2020-21 season. He enters the week at No. 28 in the Golfweek rankings and with five top-10 finishes on the calendar year, along with top-20 finishes in three of the year’s four majors.
The 34-year-old lefty has played 22 career rounds at TPC Summerlin with an average of 0.92 total strokes gained on the field per round. He finished T-13 last year while ranking third in the field in SG: Putting per round. His play with the driver improved greatly through the season.
Kuchar’s lone top-10 finish of 2021 thus far was a third-place result in the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play. He’s down to his final eight opportunities of the year to try to extend a three-year streak of at least one professional victory.
He has averaged 1.22 strokes gained on the field over 17 career rounds at TPC Summerlin, including a T-34 finish last year with 0.76 SG: Around-the-Green per round. While the odds are indicative of his fall from regular contender status, this course still suits his strengths in the short game
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McDowell is back and feeling better than ever after a dismal 2020-21 PGA Tour season.
Get ready for G-Mac 3.0.
That’s what Graeme McDowell has dubbed the new release of his game ahead of the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, not just his debut in the 2021-22 PGA Tour season but also his first PGA Tour start since the Charles Schwab Challenge in May after taking nine weeks off to recover from a right forearm injury.
“I’ve had a mental reset, I’m refreshed and I’m motivated,” he said. “We’re calling it G-Mac 3.0 – 2.0 was after COVID. I’d been on the bike and I trained and I felt really great. 2.0 didn’t work. Now we’re on 3.0, which is continuing the work physically but working more on the mental side of things and be more accepting of where I’m at and just do what I do better and be a better version of the 42-year-old me.”
McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champion, is coming off a dismal season in which he made just five cuts in 15 starts on the PGA Tour and fell to No. 236 in the world. It was the first time he dealt with an injury – other than a nagging wrist injury a few years ago – that required him to sit out for an extended period of time. This happened after McDowell tried to ramp up his game by starting to work with instructor Lucas Wald late last year. However, the changes to his swing backfired and may have contributed to his injury.
“I felt like I was looking for something, trying to reinvent it, but you’re not going to reinvent 20 years of a move,” McDowell said. “It was a bit of a science experiment that went sideways. I know my swing well by now. If something goes wrong, it’s usually just a couple of things.”
Back to the drawing board he went and McDowell drew up a new plan after some soul searching.
“The couple of months I was out this summer gave me time to reflect and I’ve come to the conclusion that what’s going to hold me back the next few years isn’t physical, it’s mental,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with me physically and nothing wrong with my game. Do guys hit it 50 yards past me? Yeah, but guys hit it 50 yards by a lot of people. It’s not just me. I’m long enough to compete on certain courses, my iron play, chipping and putting is good enough to compete anywhere. I have to start doing what I do better instead of looking for some magic potion that doesn’t exist.”
McDowell will continue working hard to stay in top shape. He built a COVID gym in his garage, bikes regularly and wears a waist vest when he pounds the pavement at home.
“I’ll keep looking for the fountain of youth, and keep up my work physically,” he said.
Count him among the players who are glad that fans have returned. He spent a lot of time hanging out with Shane Lowry, renting houses on the road and cooking meals together as they created their own bubble inside the Tour’s bubble. But he struggled without the fan support.
“It was hard and I felt like I didn’t deal with it well. I found I was a guy that needs that little energy the crowd brings. Having those eyeballs on you gives me a narrower focus and natural energy,” he said.
McDowell played the European Tour’s Scottish Open in July and then took nine weeks off to let his forearm injury heal. He returned last month and made the cut at the BMW PGA Championship (T-49) and Dutch Open (T-22), wearing a brace on his upper arm to help combat the soreness as a precautionary measure. He said his game feels solid and he plans to play five events between now and the end of the PGA Tour’s official schedule this calendar year “to get some FedEx Cup points on the board,” and hopefully the QBE Shootout. This is the final year of McDowell’s exemption from his victory at the 2019 Puntacana Championship. Having served as a European Ryder Cup team vice captain at the last two matches, McDowell has set making the 12-man team in Rome in 2023 as a primary goal.
“There’s nothing like playing,” he said. “The last shot I hit was holing a 5-foot putt at 17 in 2014 to come back and beat Jordan Spieth in singles. Rory was behind the green and my wife, Kristin, was there. It was a super-cool memory for me. Hopefully there still will be one more ahead of me.”
