Expert Picks: RBC Heritage

Click here to read the full article…

CROMWELL, Conn. – Put yourself in Doug Ghim’s golf shoes. You’re 22 years old and about to turn pro. Your father Jeff – who introduced you to the game, built a hitting bay in the backyard because the family couldn’t afford a club membership, and remains the only swing coach you’ve ever had – also has been your caddie for many of your memorable golfing moments. That includes recent appearances at the Masters and U.S. Open, your only two PGA TOUR starts as an amateur. At Augusta National, you earned low amateur honors – giving you a seat inside Butler Cabin after the final round – and also made three eagles. Two of those were in the opening round, including an unlikely one at the par-4 18th. Jeff, in full sprint while wearing the traditional caddie jumpsuit, ran into your arms to celebrate. You couldn’t hug him enough times that week. You call it “an incredible rideâ€� you’ve enjoyed with your dad. “There is no person that works harder for me,â€� you add. The end result? You end your amateur days  No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. But now you’ve reached the business portion of your golfing career. Time to see if your amateur success will translate against the world’s best pros. Time to make it on your own – and that means making tough decisions. So you sit down with your dad last week and make it official — he’s no longer on the bag. You need a professional caddie, someone who knows the ropes, knows the courses, can help you navigate life on the pro circuits. Father’s Day is looming, yet you worry about breaking your dad’s heart. “It was a difficult conversation last week,â€� Doug Ghim said this week while preparing for his first pro start at the Travelers Championship. “But my dad wants the best for me.â€� Dads usually do for their sons, especially someone as devoted as Jeff is to Doug. Sure, they’ve had their share of disagreements through the years; Doug told a story to the Golf Channel about a six-month period in which you two locked horns (how apropos that you’d end up attending the University of Texas). Doug blamed himself. “Puberty,â€� he said. On the Sunday before Masters week, Jeff lost the yardage book after practice. Someone was nice enough to find it and give it to lost and found. Jeff retrieved it the next day. Evidently, he had lost it in a restroom. How does that happen? “You kind of have to take your whole jumpsuit off,â€� Doug explained later that week. “It’s a onesie.â€� Having family on the bag may work for the world’s top-ranked player Dustin Johnson, who uses his brother Austin for his caddie. But Ghim’s not yet at that level. So he’s hired veteran Lance Bennett, the former long-time caddie for Matt Kuchar who has more recently caddied for Bill Haas and Daniel Berger. Bennett should be a big help as Ghim manages the early portion of his pro career, which will involve some sponsor’s exemptions until he can gain status. Doug called Bennett “a hot commodity in our industry. I just thought I need to take it.â€� Explained Ghim: “I just wanted to try having a professional caddie. Being out at the Masters and the U.S. Open, I got to see kind of what the caddie aspect was like. It’s kind of like a well-oiled machine, and I just figured that having that experience, not having status and never seeing the golf courses before, it was something that I at least needed to try. “I know that my dad will always be willing to take the call if I ever need him to be on the bag at any point. But Lance is great. He’s seen all these golf courses before. I think he had like an unreal 36 major championship streak for a bit. So he’s seen a lot and been around a lot of the guys.â€� That’s not to say Jeff Ghim won’t be around. He remains his son’s swing coach and is on-site this week at TPC River Highlands. In fact, as Ghim played a practice round Tuesday with Jordan Spieth – they paired up to play Ryan Palmer and Jack Campbell in a friendly match – Bennett was on the bag while Jeff walked with his son. Like any amateur turning pro, Doug Ghim knows he has a lot to learn about life on TOUR. Best ways to practice without wearing yourself out. Getting familiar with the courses. Managing travel. The final say now rests with him. It can be daunting. But it will also be fun. His future is bright. He’s seen what his friend Joaquin Niemann has done since turning pro earlier this year – three top 10s in his first six starts to earn special temporary membership through the rest of the season. Ghim would love similar results. It’s a business now. Even so, there will be times when Doug Ghim will miss having his dad inside the ropes. Last Friday at Shinnecock Hills, Doug and Jeff were on their 17th hole late in the second round. It was evident Doug would miss the cut and not be able to deliver the present he really wanted to give Jeff on Father’s Day – a Sunday round together at the U.S. Open. Doug began getting emotional. So did Jeff. They knew this would be their last round as player-caddie, at least for awhile As they began to play their final hole that day, Doug found the words to put it all in perspective. “I told him there are a lot of heroes that I got to meet that week, whether it was Tiger, Phil, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth,â€� he revealed this week. “But I wanted him to know that he’s always been my hero, and the person that I looked up to the most.â€� That certainly will not change just because Jeff Ghim won’t be lugging a heavy bag this week.

Click here to read the full article…

HOUSTON — Winning used to come hard for Tony Finau. Now he’s making it look easy. Staked to a four-shot lead Sunday at the Cadence Bank Houston Open, Finau stretched it to eight shots on the back nine and sailed to his third PGA TOUR victory of the year after two wins last season. With three bogeys that only affected the margin, he closed with a 1-under 69 and won by four. Finau won only once in his first 185 tournaments upon joining the PGA TOUR. Now he has four in the last 30 tournaments, including three in this calendar year. “I’ve always had belief, but confidence when you win is contagious,” Finau said. “I’m starting to put together a full-package game.” It certainly showed over four days at Memorial Park. Finau seized control with a 62 in the second round ahead of the change in weather and was superb in his bogey-free round of 68 in Saturday’s cold and wind. No one came close to catching him on Sunday. He finished at 16-under 264 and started the new season with a win — moving to No. 12 in the world ranking — after shaking off some rust in a missed cut last week at Mayakoba. PGA TOUR rookie Tyson Alexander won the B-flight, and it was a big deal. Alexander made a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 66 and moved out of a tie for second to be the sole runner-up. That was worth enough FedEx Cup points that it should be a virtual lock that he qualifies for the postseason next summer. “Great week for me,” Alexander said. “I wish Tony would have taken the week off.” Ben Taylor missed his 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 70 and finished third. Finau said he felt uncomfortable with such a large lead at the start of the round, and he conceded he had some doubts about how he would play. Those didn’t last terribly long. He rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the second hole, and then quickly pulled away from the field. Finau holed a 7-foot birdie putt on the fifth, made a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-5 eighth and capped off the front nine with a 20-foot birdie putt. That gave him an eight-shot lead, and from there it was matter of staying upright. “It was one of those days I fought and fought, and I made a lot of nice putts that calmed me,” Finau said. “I’ve never been in this position. I had a lot of nerves. Overall, as the round went on, I felt better. I was happy to get the `W’ today.” He didn’t make a bogey until the 10th hole, and then he dropped two more shots along the back nine from a bunker and with a long three-putt. Even so, no one ever got closer than the four-shot margin at the end of the round. Alex Noren had a 68 and tied for fourth to move to No. 45 in the world. He will need to stay in the top 50 by the end of the year for any hope of a Masters invitation. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler closed with a 67 and tied for ninth. He needed a win to replace Rory McIlroy at No. 1 in the world. McIlroy is playing next week in Dubai to wrap up the DP World Tour season, while Scheffler will next play at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, a 20-man field that includes host Tiger Woods.

Click here to read the full article…