Major champ flips sides, 1 caddie’s unlikely payday

Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where we’re getting ready to explain the difference between “PGA” and “PGA Tour” for the next six days. Silly sport. To the news …

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GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Going right to left.

When is a five-foot birdie putt something much, much more? When you add some important context.

Below you’ll find a five-footer posted by golf writer Rob Hernandez. It’s a birdie putt. In a 5-for-1 playoff. For this Arizona site’s final qualifying spot. For the biggest event on the LPGA schedule, the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills next month.

But here’s the thing: that’s a 5-time major champ holing that left-handed putt. And she’s a right-handed golfer. With the yips.

Rewind nearly two decades and you’ll recall that Yani Tseng was a prodigy. Between 2008 and 2011, she won five majors — all before she’d turned 23. She spent two years as World No. 1. Expectations went through the roof. But then, simply put, golf got hard. There was talk of a “slump” as early as 2012, and it’s safe to say a lot has happened in the 13-plus seasons since that last major. Tseng’s most recent battle is with the yips, which is why in her latest comeback she has flipped sides to become a left-handed putter. She freely admitted as much in an interview with Golfweek‘s Beth Ann Nichols last month: “To be honest, I had the yips. I just couldn’t make the short putts,” she said.

So making a short putt to advance to the biggest tournament in women’s golf is very cool. It’s a testament to her resilience. Because I can only imagine how easy the game felt when she was racking up majors in her early 20s. And I can only imagine how hard the game must have felt in the years since, and how jarring it must be for a pro who has been to the mountaintop to admit that hey, I can’t do this. But now she is doing it, in a new way, and Tseng will play the U.S. Women’s Open for the first time since 2016 — the year her game began to disappear.

Now, if you really want to dream: Tseng is missing just one major in her quest for the career grand slam: this one, the U.S. Women’s Open (ignoring, for our purposes, the new-school Evian). She’s 36 — the same age as Rory McIlroy, who completed his own grand slam by winning the Masters last month after a drought of more than a decade. She was watching; she posted a photo of Rory afterwards, and wrote this, roughly translated:

“Rory has waited 11 years. He tells us with his actions that we should never give up our dreams. As long as you persevere, spring will eventually come.”

Tseng probably won’t win the U.S. Women’s Open. But she has gone to the game’s highest peaks and gone deepest trenches — which means that it’s cool to see her keep going.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Sepp Straka won the Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club, the biggest event of his life. With the win came a check for $3.6 million as well as a one-of-one cricket-bat trophy; the tournament is expected to return to Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C. next season.

Jeeno Thitikul won for the first time on the LPGA Tour this season, although she’d already logged four top-fives; her four-shot victory at the Mizuho Americas Open inched her that much closer to World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

“I’m just trying to do my part. I’m just trying to improve myself every day,” Thitikul said, getting sentimental. “Winning or not, I’m just — I think the real win that I have, it’s all the people around me.”

Ryan Fox won the PGA Tour’s additional event, the Myrtle Beach Classic, with a chip-in on the first playoff hole. It doubled as a present for his wife.

“On Friday I said, ‘What can I get you for Mother’s Day?’ She goes, ‘Well, a trophy would be nice.’ I guess I lived up to my end of the bargain there.”

Martin Couvra, a 22-year-old French DP World Tour rookie, won for the first time at the Turkish Airlines Open thanks to a final-round 64. He started the day four shots back but surged past the rest of the field with a flurry of front-nine birdies.

Lucas Herbert won the International Series event in Japan, firing a final-round 64 to finish five shots clear of the field. Per DataGolf, Herbert — who plays mostly on LIV — will be the best player in the world not invited to this week’s PGA Championship; DG has Herbert at No. 31 in its ranking, although he’s just No. 167 in the OWGR.

And Sophia Popov won the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic on the Epson Tour, a meaningful Mother’s Day victory with her father on the bag and in front of her two-year-old daughter Maya. It was her first win since the 2020 AIG Women’s Open.

NOT-WINNERS

But not losers, either.

Shane Lowry has been playing ridiculously consistent high-level golf. Since the BMW Championship in August of last year he’s played 18 individual events (including a handful on the DP World Tour) and logged 15 top-20s — although I’m not sure he would have been comforted by that as he walked off 18 after a brilliant approach followed by a deflating three-putt that left him T2. He’s up to a career-best No. 10 in the OWGR.

Justin Thomas finished T2 alongside Lowry, his third top-two finish in four starts. Patrick Cantlay’s T4 finish was his highest finish since T3 at last year’s U.S. Open. Tommy Fleetwood’s T4 was his best result since a T3 at last year’s Masters. Cameron Young’s T7 was his best result since last summer. And Rory McIlroy’s ho-hum T7 was just the latest in a string of high finishes for the World No. 2.

CADDIE CORNER

Another one-off looper win.

Beware the short-term caddie… Sepp Straka’s fill-in Drew Mathers was a last-minute add to the team when Straka’s usual guy Duane Bock went out with an injury last week. It’s not just that Mathers, a mini-tour pro who plays with Straka at home in Birmingham, Ala., had never caddied on the PGA Tour. He’d barely even seen a PGA Tour event; he could remember just one day of tournament golf he’d been to in person. Whatever his winner’s fee (it could presumably be split with Bock) it’ll help with Q-School.

Bock was there all week serving as a consultant of sorts, perhaps a caddie to the caddie, which isn’t something I’ve heard often before. Nor do I remember seeing an injured caddie behind the 18th green giving his boss a hug, but there was Bock.

Thomas’ boss Matt Minister was back after a couple weeks away with injury; Thomas high finish served as a reminder that it wasn’t just caddie Joe Greiner that led him to the top of the leaderboard at the RBC Heritage.

“I missed him every step of the way at Augusta and at Hilton Head,” Thomas said of Minister. “It would have been really cool to obviously win with the first week with him back. But I know our time is coming. We’ve just got to keep our head down and keep doing what we’re doing and just stay patient.”

And Collin Morikawa played his first tournament with Greiner on the bag full-time; they were in contention until late on Saturday and finished T17.

SHORT HITTERS

5 takes from around the golf world.

1. Signature Events should not come the week after a major.

There was a Siggy the week after the Masters and there will be another the week after the U.S. Open. Rory McIlroy prefers the structure around the PGA, with the Signature Truist serving as a lead-in event.

“Before, I’m all for. After, I’m not a huge fan of it, but there’s only so many weeks in the year.

“I really like playing the week before if it makes sense. I think, again, this week was a great indication of where my game is and what I need to think about and what I need to work on going into next week. But the weeks after majors are tough.”

Thomas just won the week after a major, but even he admitted there’s a post-major letdown.

“To be perfectly honest, I think playing the week after the U.S. Open at Oakmont is going to really suck. Oakmont is hard, and it’s going to take a lot out of us,” he said. “That’s really different than playing at a place where you’re shooting 15-, 20-under, but it is what it is. We’ll all be more than happy to tee it up, and there will be a winner at the end of the week.”

2. The PGA Tour needs to visit the Northeast more often.

It still seems absurd that Boston, New York and Philadelphia (and, for that matter, Chicago) have a combined zero permanent PGA Tour stops. (We’re not quite counting the Travelers as New York or Boston here.) But as McIlroy said, “trying to figure out the dates and the best times to play — it’s hard.” Short seasons in the Northeast means that members are reluctant to give up their courses. But as a New England native who lives in the outrageously overlooked Pacific Northwest, c’mon, fellas. Let’s keep thinking outside the box…

3. The golfer with the most pressure on him this week is Jon Rahm.

Since his LIV departure, Jon Rahm has proven his level is still extremely high but hasn’t shown it in the majors. And with other top dogs winning recent big events — Scottie Scheffler won everything last year, McIlroy just won the Masters, Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open, Xander Schauffele picked off two majors — the ball is in Rahm’s court.

4. …unless Jordan Spieth gets into contention.

We’re in a nice place with Jordan Spieth where he arrives at Quail Hollow with what is technically another chance to win the career grand slam but nobody really expects it to happen. It’s pure upside. Of course, Spieth may not see it that way — especially if he plays his way into the mix…

5. There aren’t enough majors for all the guys who need one.

Think of the talented pros who “need” a major win to prove their mettle in this era of professional golf but don’t yet have one. Tommy Fleetwood. Patrick Cantlay. Ludvig Åberg. Tyrrell Hatton. Joaquin Niemann. Sungjae Im. Viktor Hovland. Tony Finau. Etc. When you figure that the guys who do have one or more already — the Schefflers, McIlroys, DeChambeaus, Schauffeles, Rahms, Thomases and Morikawas of the world — are likely to keep hoovering up more, a whole bunch of guys are inevitably left out in the cold. I guess that’s why majors are so special. Let’s enjoy this one.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

An Irishman in the weather?

I got a kick out of Lowry being asked whether he can handle wind and rain better than most. His response?

“No. Everyone says that to me every day when it rains. I live in South Florida, and I plan to be there now,” he said. Though in fairness, he did acknowledge he can be something of a mudder.

“I think I’m able to handle them probably better than a few people, but I don’t particularly like or enjoy going out and playing in these conditions,” he added. “But yeah, I handle them well.”

RYDER CUP WATCH

Sepp!

Among those there to congratulate Straka behind the 18th green? McIlroy, his Ryder Cup teammate. His message to Straka: “He told me at least this win counts for Ryder Cup points,” Straka said later, referencing his American Express victory earlier this season, which didn’t earn him any points. “I’m sure this will probably help me out with the rankings a lot.”

Straka was right: He immediately leapt from No. 20 to No. 5. Based on his form, you can expect to see him at Bethpage — as well as the man who finished T2, Lowry, who jumped to No. 2 in the standings.

On the U.S. side, Thomas’ T2 finish served as a reminder that he’s among a handful of locks for Bethpage, and Cantlay’s T4 was useful for his cause, too. But there’s plenty of work to be done. Here are the current top 12 on each side:

TEAM USA

1. Scottie Scheffler, 16361 pts

2. Xander Schauffele, 11573

3. Justin Thomas, 9343

4. Collin Morikawa, 8856

5. Bryson DeChambeau, 8190

6. Russell Henley, 7878

–

7. Andrew Novak, 5858

8. Maverick McNealy, 5788

9. Brian Harman, 5768

10. Patrick Cantlay, 5156

11. J.J. Spaun, 5049

12. Harris English, 4154

TEAM EUROPE

1. Rory McIlroy, 2956 pts

2. Shane Lowry, 1124

3. Rasmus Højgaard, 1023

4. Tyrrell Hatton, 991

5. Sepp Straka, 943

6. Justin Rose, 870

–

7. Ludvig Åberg, 819

8. Tommy Fleetwood, 814

9. Thomas Detry, 650

10. Niklas Norgaard, 608

11. Matt Wallace, 572

12. Laurie Canter, 521

ONE THING TO WATCH

Chris Wood’s last top-10 finish was at the 2018 Dutch Open. His Sunday 64 left him T7 in Turkey — and with a mixture of relief and determination as he looks ahead.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

I’m on the lookout for hidden-gem golf in the Pacific Northwest. Your quirkiest, roughest, most charming, most scenic, least scenic — all of it. If that inspires anything in your knowledge or imagination, hit me up at the email address below. And happy PGA Championship.

We’ll see you next week!

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

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