Koepka: LIV golfers not ‘washed up’ after Masters

Welcome to the Monday Finish where the lights haven’t gone out in Vegas or at Patrick Cantlay’s celebration party. Here’s some observations and insights from the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open where Cantlay joined the youth movement after a gritty win at TPC Summerlin. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. They said it was only a matter of time for Patrick Cantlay. They were right. Five years after turning professional as the hottest thing in youth golf Cantlay hit the jackpot in Las Vegas. The story on why this took as long as it did is well documented, check out the upshot from last night here, or Mike McAllister’s impressive deep dive on him from earlier in the year here. He went through hell both on course and off it. And while his contemporaries like Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas have created a new era in golf he was forced to watch from the sidelines. But no more. Cantlay is clearly the real deal. What impressed me most was perhaps the fact he should’ve blown his chances, but kept fighting. He double bogeyed the 18th on Saturday to fall four back of the lead. He bogeyed his final two holes Sunday to seemingly give up his chance at the title and then when given the chance in the playoff he found a bunker on approach and almost hit that shot into the water before flubbing the following chip. BUT, he continued to dig deep. He made a clutch 8-foot putt to stay alive and then after a wide drive put him in tree trouble he didn’t take the soft option – he went for it. Threading the needle through the trees to the back of the green. A great lag putt and a tap in later and he was your champion. Gritty stuff despite adversity. Cantlay is the real deal. 2. While we have been pushing the youth movement on the PGA TOUR for the last year or so given the incredible success of those in their 20s we cannot forget those on the other end of the scale. The 40-somethings. Alex Cejka, at 46, almost stole the tournament yesterday after an incredible final round 63. Despite giving up some length advantage to Cantlay and Whee Kim in the playoff he had a good look at victory on the first playoff hole just slide by. Last season a 47-year-old Rod Pampling won in Las Vegas. This week’s defending champion at the OHL Classic in Mayakoba is Pat Perez, who has already won again this season in Malaysia. The great thing about golf is you can play it from when you are about 2 to 102. Keep an eye out for tomorrows big Tuesday story from colleague Cameron Morfit where he dives into the 40-somethings and how they remain more relevant than ever in this great game. 3. Whee Kim looks like a future winner. One bad swing cost the South Korean on Sunday when his tee ball on the second playoff hole sailed left into the desert but prior to that he’d been gutsy. His opening round 65 was impressive and came in his first start after contending heavily in his home country at THE CJ CUP @NINE BRIDGES. He then ground out a couple of 72s in tougher conditions and without a cooperative putter. He started Sunday five back and not really in the discussion and with just one birdie on the front nine Sunday it looked like just a decent result was on the cards. Instead he then produced five birdies in seven holes after the turn to catapult into contention. Nerves took hold a little with a bogey on the last and then bogey / double bogey on the playoff holes but he will be better for it. With Shane Joel on his bag he has great experience to work with. Joel caddied for Mark O’Meara for a long time. Perhaps Kim is one to watch in Mexico this week although Joel won’t be on this trip as he completes some immigration paperwork. 4. The wild winds in Las Vegas weren’t everybody’s cup of tea but to be fair it is the defense of the TPC Summerlin layout. The 30mph gusts over the weekend made it extremely difficult to navigate, forcing players into guesswork with clubs and into creativity with ball flight. It might be a little macabre of me but I like to see the best players on the PGA TOUR face this sort of adversity once in a while. The game of golf is not easy and so often our stars make it look like it is so it’s okay that occasionally we see them squirm a little. Patrick Cantlay’s winning score of 9-under 275 is the highest by seven shots (2015) since becoming a single-course event in 2008. It’s just the third time the winning total has been higher than 20-under-par. Last year Rod Pampling led at 11- under after the first round! 5. Congratulations to everyone involved at Shriners Hospitals and also those involved in the whole Vegas Strong movement. The Shriners Hospitals do so much amazing work and this was evident all week as I was lucky enough to meet some of the patients and hear their stories. The tournament is a huge part of growing awareness and support for the great work they do. Of course their graciousness in sharing the light with those affected by the recent massacre in Las Vegas was never in question and both causes were looked after well. Sponsor Invite A.J. McInerney, who was a survivor of the shootings, played incredibly well to a T10 finish and had enthusiastic support from the crowds. UNLV graduate and former national champion Charley Hoffman donated his prizemoney to the victims ($98,600). It was just great to be amongst a strong community. If you are looking for a cause to get behind, by all means check out what Shriners Hospitals for Children do. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Patrick Cantlay moves to 3rd position in the FedExCup standings with his first career victory. It is his fifth top-15 finish in his last six starts on TOUR. 2. Cantlay led the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee, outperforming the field by +1.256 strokes per round. This marked the second time Cantlay has led in this category and fourth time gaining more than a stroke per round in an event from the tee. He was T8 in Driving Distance – All Drives (305.6yards) and T5 in Driving Accuracy at 64.29percent (36 of 56). 3. Cantlay’s performance on the back nine at TPC Summerlin was phenomenal. He played the back nine holes in 8-under par, hit 23 of 28 fairways and outperformed the field by +3.70 in SG: Off-the-Tee. He equaled his career best consecutive birdies streak of four birdies twice on route to victory (Rd 1 & Rd 4). 4. Since 1995, there have now been 11 winners of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in their 20s, tying the record for most winners in their 20s with the BMW Championship. 5. Chesson Hadley, the front-runner for 2017 Web.com Tour Player of the Year and former PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, finished T4. This marks his third-consecutive top-5 finish in three starts this season. In his first two starts, he finished T3 at the Safeway Open and runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship. TOP THREE VIDEOS 1. Patrick Cantlay’s no lay-up attitude in the playoff helped him to this recovery shot from behind trees. It would effectively be the clincher. 2. Kyle Miller hosts Shriners patients in a special golf clinic. 3. We love hole in ones… how about two in one day? (Kelly Kraft’s ace not pictured here.)

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Will Zalatoris has failed to win multiple times, but he keeps getting closer and closer. On Sunday, he gets another 18 holes to try and finally give himself more than just a learning experience.

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