The Rocket Classic took off Thursday and we have all you need to know from the weekend. A youtuber seeks redemption, the Mush Master loses his head up his A$$, and an era ends in the Motor City. Let’s get into it.
PGA Recap
The Rocket Classic - Detroit Golf Club
Two weeks in a row. Two players under 25. Two first time winners. The PGA Tour's youth movement is not subtle right now and it is absolutely beautiful to watch, even if it makes the rest of us feel like the scrubs we are. Also because the golf has been genuinely spectacular.
This week it was 24-year-old Michael Thorbjornsen who closed with a bogey-free 63 on Sunday at Detroit Golf Club to win the Rocket Classic by two shots over Xander Schauffele. Thorbjornsen. Schauffele. Cameron Young. Hideki Matsuyama. A Sunday leaderboard that looked like a who's who of modern golf and a 24-year-old walked away with the trophy.
Meanwhile the Mush Master had Brooks Koepka in his lineup. More on that disaster in the Degen Den.
But here's the real story this week. The Rocket Classic played its final round at Detroit Golf Club. After eight years, Rocket Companies decided not to renew its title sponsorship and the PGA Tour's only stop within Detroit's city limits is done. At least for now. The tournament survived COVID, tornadoes, and wildfire smoke over eight years and gave over $10 million to local Detroit charities during its run. The fans showed up in force for the finale, the course was freshly renovated, and then the lights went out.
"Eight unbelievable years," said tournament director Mark Hollis. Like the city it resides in, the Detroit Golf Club never quit. But the powers that be couldn’t agree on the future.
Rickie Fowler, the face of the event for all eight years, said "never say never" about a return. The PGA Tour says Detroit remains a priority. Rocket hasn't entirely ruled out coming back. So maybe this isn't goodbye forever, just goodbye for now.
Either way, a genuinely great tournament got a genuinely great send off. Thorbjornsen fired a 63. Schauffele made it interesting. The fans packed the grounds. Detroit Golf Club looked stunning on TV after its renovation.
Not a bad way to go out. 🏌️
Worm of the Week
This week's Worm of the Week goes to Brad Dalke. YouTube golf star, content creator, and a very promising golfer in his early days. He won the 2015 Junior PGA Championship, finished runner-up at the 2016 U.S. Amateur, and helped Oklahoma to the 2017 NCAA National Championship. Unfortunately, things haven’t always quite gone so well on the golf course. This weekend was no exception.
Brad got himself a sponsor exemption to play in the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club. For the uninitiated a sponsor exemption is basically the PGA Tour saying "hey, we like you enough to let you play with the big boys this week." It's an honor and a privilege. A chance to show the world what you're made of.
Well, Brad did just that.
Round one produced an opening nine of 43 on a par 36. That's a 7 over front nine on a PGA Tour course which is, of course, literally 17 strokes better at least, than I would shoot. But I missed my sponsor exemption in the mail this week so Brad is the dirty bird who gets the Worm.
The lowlight was a snowman on the par 5, 14th hole. A big fat 8. Brad didn't just find trouble on that hole, he moved in, unpacked his bags and redecorated.
He called the round "nightmare fuel." Brad, broham, we have been there. That’s the stuff that powers my golfcart in every round I play.
To his credit Brad came back Friday and shot a 75. Which on the PGA Tour is still not great. But compared to the 81 it was a resurrection. He even birdied the 14th hole in round two, that’s half the strokes of the day before. Take that number 14! Growth. Healing. But I digress…
At the end of Friday he finished dead last in the field in nearly every statistical category.
We salute you Brad Dalke. You are the people's champion. The Worm of the Week trophy is yours and you earned every stroke of it. See you on YouTube. 🐛
Chili Dip Golf Tip
Escaping the Bunker
Let's talk about everyone's favorite place on a golf course. No, not the 19th hole. The bunker. The beach. That sandbox of despair that has ended more promising rounds early than a Taco Bell 5-layer burrito before a 7 AM tee time.
Here's the thing about bunker shots around the green (fairway bunkers may be handled a bit different) that nobody tells you. You are not supposed to hit the ball. Read that again. You are not hitting the ball. You are hitting the sand behind the ball and letting the sand push it out. This is the single most counterintuitive thing in golf and the reason most hackers blade it across the green into the other bunker (and hopefully not through the window of that townhome across the way) or chunk it right into the lip only to have it settle in the exact same spot it started in.
Here's the simple version:
Open your stance slightly. Aim your feet left of the target if you're right handed. Open the clubface so it's pointing at the sky a little. Now pick a spot about two inches behind the ball and hit THAT. Not the ball. The sand. Commit to it. Swing through like you're trying to throw the sand onto the green. Just imagine swinging through (or digging out) a small rectangle of sand a couple inches behind and in front of where the ball lies.
The ball will come out. It won't go where you want it to. But it will come out. And at this stage of your golf journey that is an absolute victory worth celebrating.
A few things NOT to do in a bunker:
Don't decelerate. Commit to the swing or the ball stays and you develop a complex.
Don't try to scoop it. The loft is already built into the club. Trust it. Swing through.
Don't look up early. The ball will be gone by the time you look. Probably. Maybe.
Today in Golf History
On this date in 1980 the very first U.S. Senior Open was held at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Argentina's Roberto De Vicenzo walked away with the victory, winning by four shots. It was a landmark moment. The first major championship specifically for golfers aged 50 and over, proving once and for all that you don’t have to give up on the game just because your back gave up on you.
De Vicenzo is also famous for something else entirely. He signed an incorrect scorecard at the 1968 Masters which cost him a playoff with Bob Goalby. His playing partner had written down the wrong score for one hole, De Vicenzo signed it without checking, and the rules required the higher score to stand. He lost the Masters because of a clerical error. He later said simply "what a stupid I am." Oh Roberto, you have no idea what a stupid I have been on the golf course.
Golf is a humbling game at every age and every level. Roberto De Vicenzo knew that better than most. Winston the worm salutes him.
The Degen Den
22,164th out of around 35,200 entries in the big contest this weekend. I am Mush Master and it’s good to be back. I’ll just post the card for your viewing pleasure. The glaring goof here is obvious. Koepka withdrew on TUESDAY. Had I paid any attention at all, there was plenty of time to replace him, but enough about me already:
Back to the five buck contest me thinks
For this week’s choices, gotta roll again with Matsuyama. He’s still got that made cut streak goin’ and me likey a lot!
Let’s add Cameron Young because DK has him with the highest salary so my lizard brain says, ‘him… winner.’
I gotta add Blades Brown. His NAME is BLADES. Like ON his birth certificate. I mean, come on!
Lets round her out with Chris ‘Captain’ Kirk, Rasmus Hojgaard because the ‘o’ in his last name has a slash through it that I coudn’t replicate in this newsletter, and that’s just bad ass, and finally Ryo Hisatsune because his salary fits and he made 22 of his last 23 cuts. Brilliant!
Disclaimer: These picks are provided purely for entertainment purposes. If you gamble, don’t gamble. If you don’t gamble, carry on wise one.
Golf Joke of the Week
A man is stranded on a desert island for ten years. One day a beautiful woman washes ashore from a shipwreck. She opens her waterproof bag and pulls out a cold beer. "Would you like one?" she asks. "Absolutely," he says. She reaches back in the bag. "Would you like to play around?" His eyes light up. "Don't tell me you have golf clubs in there too!"
Check out the most recent blog post on the website to learn about the most likely types of golfers you’ll run into at your next scramble. You know them, you love them, and you are always glad it will be one year until you play with them again.
Once again, Thanks for reading, and even more for subscribing if you have done so. See you next Tuesday!