The Memorial
Hats off to Emiliano Grillo who captured his second PGA Tour victory last week at The Charles Schwab Challenge. Although his victory did not come without its difficulties. Going into the last hole of the event Grillo maintained a two shot lead that would ultimately be erased. After Grillo’s tee shot found the water he scrapped it around and made double. This opened the door wide open for Harry Hall and Adam Schenk who both sat at eight under par now tied with Grillo. Harry Hall ultimately made bogey and took himself out of the playoff, while Adam Schenk made par and got himself in the playoff with Grillo. Both players shared par on the first playoff hole, but it was Grillo who hit his tee shot inside five feet on the par three 16th hole. Leading up to his win Grillo has been having a very solid year thus far, notching five top 10s, and 15 made cuts in just 20 events. This win now guaranteed Grillo a two year exemption on tour and a spot in the masters next season.
Once again this past week LIV Golf ran an event during the same time as the Charles Schwab in order to “try” and compete with the PGA Tour and their ratings. This week LIV golf found its way to Trump DC. Per usual the constant music and rowdiness flooded the grounds of Trump DC. This event more specifically, allegedly had the largest fan attendance out of any LIV event in the United States. Now whether or not this is true or not LIV put on another successful event and seemingly has no plans to slow down. Specifically a special shoutout to Harold Varner III on capturing his first LIV win and first win on U.S. soil. Despite LIV’s potential growing popularity absolutely nothing will change or progress until LIV players receive OWGR points. Regardless of LIV and its growing popularity, the next 4-6 weeks on the PGA Tour are going to be unreal starting with this week at Jack Nicholas’ Muirfield Village for The Memorial Tournament.
Not only is this an elevated event, The Memorial is a special place for a lot of players, there is so much history embedded in the grounds of Muirfield Village. We often don’t hear the actual name of the course because everyone now refers to Muirfield Village simply as “Jack’s Place.” The core ideas behind Jack starting this event were very simple. He wanted to bring elite players to Ohio and help local charities. In 1976 this dream came to life. Since then the tournament has been played every year and each year the winner gets a plaque that is displayed in the clubhouse. The challenging part of this event is qualifying, now every year 75 players get automatic invites the rest of the field is heavily influenced by Jack Nicholas himself. It’s safe to say this is one of those events that you want to get invited to. On top of having an incredible field, the course itself is an absolute gem. Muirfield Village comes in just shy of 7,400 yards as well has perfectly placed bunkers and water hazards that cause many players problems. The most impressive piece of Muirfield Village in my opinion are the green complexes. These greens take the precision of the highest level in order to get close to most of the pin locations. The player with the most accuracy and precision will find themselves in the winner's circle come Sunday afternoon and with a milkshake in hand of course. (Mike)
Last week was a total swing and a miss for me in regards to my picks. Both Tommy Fleetwood and Cam Davis missed the cut last week so hoping for something better this week. My favorite to win this week is Xander Schauffele. He has been playing some really nice golf lately and has a track record of playing well at The Memorial. I tend to still think of Xander as a bit of a fraud, but a win this week would go a long ways in convincing me otherwise. A dark horse I like for this week is Corey Conners. He is another guy that has played some great golf lately, but it is asking a lot for him to get it done against this field. I also really like Shane Lowry this week to cash another top 25.
A nice moment developed on the broadcast Sunday as Emilliano Grillo waited to see the outcomes of the groups behind him. For those that missed it, he was standing on the first tee hitting some practice shots and there were only two kids and their dad standing there watching him. He invited one of them in to hit a few shots off the tee. The kid was super grateful/polite and I am sure that is something he will remember forever. It was moments after Grillo made a disastrous double bogey that he was able to have this moment. This moment was made that much cooler with the fact that he was able to then go on and win. Sports can be so great….sometimes. (Tyler)