Justin Rose reveals what company made his mysterious new custom “JR” irons

MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Matthew Wolff might be too young to realize he’s supposed to hit fairways to have a chance to win the U.S. Open. Or maybe he’s so good it doesn’t matter. Wolff hit only two fairways Saturday and still matched the lowest score ever at Winged Foot in a major, a 5-under 65 that gave the 21-year-old Californian a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau going into the final round. Whether it was the first cut or the nasty rough, Wolff kept giving those hips one last swivel before blasting away and giving himself birdie chances. He made enough of them to seize control, and then let so many others crumble. Patrick Reed, tied for the lead at the turn, couldn’t find the fairway and paid dearly with a 43 on the back nine. Reed had a three-shot lead after two holes. He walked off the 18th green with a 77 and was eight shots behind. Collin Morikawa won the PGA Championship last month in his first try at age 23. Wolff is playing his first U.S. Open at age 21. Is he next? “I’m probably going to be a little antsy. It’s the U.S. Open, and I have a lead,” Wolff said. “I’m going to try to keep my nerves as calm as they can be. I put myself in a really good spot. I did everything that I could do up until this point, and tomorrow I’m going to go out there, I promise you I’m going to try my best.” He was at 5-under 205. Not since Francis Ouimet in 1913 — also the last time the U.S. Open was played in September — has a player won the U.S. Open in his debut. DeChambeau could easily have gone the same route as Reed, missing left and right, gouging his way out of the grass. But after opening with two bogeys, he kept scrambling away — 15 straight holes with nothing worse than par. He rallied with two late birdies until missing a short par putt on the 18th for a 70. He will be in the final group for the first time in a major, another quiet affair with no spectators on the course. The U.S. Open began with 21 players under par. There were six going into the weekend. Now it’s down to three, with Louis Oosthuizen efficiently putting together a 68 to finish at 1-under 209. Hideki Matsuyama (70), Xander Schauffele (70) and Harris English (72) were at even-par 210. Another shot back was Rory McIlroy, who posted his 68 some three hours before the leaders finished. “It doesn’t take much around here … and all of a sudden you’re right in the thick of things,” McIlroy said. “No matter where I am at the end of the day, I feel like I’ve got a pretty good shot.” It all depends on Wolff, an NCAA champion at Oklahoma State who won on the PGA TOUR in his third event as a pro last summer in the 3M Open in Minnesota. From the first cut of rough on the opening hole, he hit it to right level of the contoured green for a 15-foot birdie. From the right rough on No. 4, he wound up with another 15-foot birdie putt. And then he really poured it on. He drove next to the green on the short par-4 sixth, getting up-and-down from a bunker for birdie. He holed a 12-foot birdie on the par-3 seventh. And when he finally hit his first fairway on No. 8, he missed a 6-foot birdie attempt. His lone bogey came on the 16th when he was in such a bad lie in the rough he couldn’t reach the green. And he finished with a most fortuitous hop. His iron off the tee hopped into the thick rough and back out to the first cut. He ripped 7-iron to 10 feet for one last birdie. “If I don’t hit fairways tomorrow, I know I can play well,” Wolff said with a smile. “Even when I was in the rough, I had a bunch of good numbers and a bunch of good lies.” And he played a lot of good golf, so good that even at his age, he looked to be a daunting figure to catch. “I don’t think there’s any `chasing’ out here,” Schauffele said, adding that if Wolff had another good round Sunday it would be “impossible to catch him.” DeChambeau gave himself hope, among five players within five of the lead on a course where anything goes. Think back to the last U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2006, when Geoff Ogilvy hit a superb pitch to 6 feet for par that he thought was only good for second place until Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie closed with double bogeys. “I feel like I’m ready to win out here and win a major,” Wolff said. “It is a major. It’s really important and yes, it is really early in my career. But I feel like I have the game to win. Collin won at 23. I’m 21. And I’m not saying that it’s going to happen. But I put myself in a really good spot, and obviously I’m feeling really good with my game.”

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All the attention is on Tiger. And when it’s not on him, it’s on Jordan and Rickie and DJ and JT. Brooks Kopeka, who won two more majors than any of them this year, has noticed.

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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.

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