The RBC Heritage
Yet another magical week unfolded at Augusta National this past week. Scottie Scheffler absolutely dominated on Sunday en route to his second green jacket in just three years. Scheffler’s play all week was astounding, he battled various elements including high winds that gusted well in the 40 mph range on Friday, he held off charges from Max Homa, Collin Morikawa, and Ludvig Åberg, and made clutch putts down the stretch when he needed it most. However, the most impressive piece of Scottie’s win was his composure. The back nine on Sunday Scottie was stoic, he was in full control of his mind, body, and emotions. At this point, it’s clear that Scottie is the undisputed #1 player in the world and it's not really close at this point. With this win, Scottie has now won three of his last four starts, but while Scottie’s win was awesome, there were a few players at Augusta that really impressed a lot of people. For starters Ludvig Åberg played almost flawless golf on Sunday and had a very clean card except for one bad swing on 11 that cost him two shots and resulted in a double bogey. He picked right up where he left off after the double rolling in birdies on 13 and 14. Even though his bounce back was great, a double bogey that late in the tournament is an absolute killer. Nevertheless, Ludvig really shocked the golf world in his first major start with his solo second finish. Morikawa was probably in the best position at the start of Sunday’s round but he unfortunately made doubles on nine and 11 that resulted in a 74 for the day and a T-3 finish along with Max Homa and Tommy Fleetwood. The bottom line is the back nine of Augusta on Sunday afternoons takes absolutely no prisoners and it will separate the boys from the men.
The week after Augusta is always weird because golf fans expect all the top players to take a week off, but since the RBC heritage is an elevated event the field is once again stacked with multiple top players including Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Max Homa, Tommy Fleetwood, and Matt Fitzpatrick to just name a few. On top of the star studded field, the host venue, Harbour Town Golf Links is an absolute gem and one of the most picturesque courses the tour goes to. This is a big week for multiple players, especially those who missed the cut last week at Augusta. Justin Thomas is one of those players that is in desperate need of a solid week. JT has now missed the cut in four of the last five majors so a strong showing this week would go a long way. Jordan Spieth is another name on that list that is in need of a good week as well. He had some momentum in Texas a few weeks ago but Augusta National showed his teeth and Spieth also missed the cut. The last big name on that list is Tony Finau. Since the start of this season, Finau has simply just underperformed all season. That inconsistent play continued at Augusta where he finished t-55 capped off with a last round 80. Of the three Tony really needs a good week, coming into the season Tony was clouded with numerous LIV rumors after his buddy Jon Rahm made the move. It should be interesting to see what happens in the future with Tony. Many think if his poor play continues he might just jump ship and take the payday. As of right now, Tony Finau is here to stay and hoping to get back on track starting this week. (Mike)
It seems like I am just beating a dead horse at this point, but every week we hit a new low in my interest in professional golf. Last week, was supposed to be one of the best weekends of the season and I did not mind missing most of it once Tiger began to stumble. With more rumors about Rory leaving for LIV (that he has since dispelled) and the anticlimactic Sunday finish at Augusta I just get further and further disinterested in a once great professional sport. We now have to wait until next month to get a field of similar strength together. I am hoping the US Open has more to offer us and that the best players in the world show up to give Scottie a better challenge. It seems like a long time since there was a consistent product that was worth tuning in for. The ratings continue to show that many others have this same sentiment and are not tuning in. Masters ratings were down sharply from just last year. Golf’s popularity is still sky high as getting a tee time can be a difficult ask these days all throughout the country. The fact that ratings continue to plummet as the sport’s popularity continues to rise just goes to show how bad Jay and co at the PGA Tour have messed this up.
Picks of the Week:
Tyler: That being said, my picks have been atrocious this year. For no reason in particular I like Patrick Cantlay to win this week. I am taking a break from using any sort of logic to pick guys. I also like Rory this week as he should be playing with less stress. Hopefully, the golf is worth tuning into this weekend and we get to see some big names battle it out. (Tyler)