Martin Laird redeems himself with playoff win in Las Vegas

They said he was crazy. They said it wouldn't work. But the proof is in the pudding and Bryson DeChambeau is waking up as a major champion this morning. Welcome to the Monday Finish where we will give you a look at five things you may have missed from the major test that was the U.S. Open at Winged Foot - well, a major test for most except seemingly DeChambeau who bludgeoned his way to a six-shot win. RELATED: DeChambeau’s major moment | What’s in his bag? | Numbers to Know 1. Bryson proved his point but he's not done. From the time DeChambeau came on to the scene, he has been an outlier. It made him an easy target for a lot of people. But the fact is, whether it be single-length irons, or using infinite data for shot selection, or now bulking up to brutally overpower golf courses, he has always done things his way. Conventional thinking is not his jam. So while his latest efforts of swinging for the fences has proven successful, he has more to achieve in this space. "I’m just excited for the future. I’m still learning, still trying to figure stuff out, still trying to tinker with different clubs and stuff like that. This is just a marker for me in my career," he said prior to the tournament. "This is just part of the process and the journey, where I’m not necessarily worried about if I’m going to win this week or if I’m going to win next week, it’s just about how can I get better each and every week for me." Next step? Hitting it even further, perhaps via a longer driver. "We’re working on testing a 48-inch driver after this week. We’ll see how far I can go. If it’s as consistent as what I’m doing now, there’s no reason why (I wouldn't use one). If I was 205 mile-an-hour ball speed, I’d be using it everywhere out here. It would be even more of an asset to me. That’s the way I look at it," he said. "There’s this point of no return where if you’re around like 180 and you try and get faster but it gets that much more drastically offline, it really doesn’t help you that much. You don’t gain that much. But once you start getting 195 to 200 to 205, even though you’re missing it that far offline, you’re so far up close to these greens, it’s too big of an advantage to take away." Read more about his victory here. 2. The Wolff will howl one day. Matthew Wolff will be hurting this morning after letting his 54-hole lead slip but he will eventually take solace in the fact he was a runner-up in his first U.S. Open. Like DeChambeau, Wolff is a different character in the golfing world and has even been called a disruptor. He also hits it long and does so with an unconventional swing but the key to this California kid is, quite simply, he's cool. He appeals to the new generations and shows that some of the old stereotypes around golf are not really reality these days. He will bring in new fans for years to come and he will win more than his fair share of tournaments. He's the first player to be runner-up in his U.S. Open debut since Jason Day in 2011. Day had nine top 10s in majors before he claimed the 2015 PGA Championship and went to World No. 1. Wolff has two top 5s in his first two majors and could certainly follow a similar, or quicker, path. 3. Winged Foot did not discriminate when kicking butt. The last time the course held a U.S. Open in 2006 the winning score was 5 over. This time around DeChambeau was 6 under, but he was the only player under par. Big collapses happen here to the best of them. Justin Thomas shot 5-under 65 in Round 1 before being 11 over the rest of the way. Patrick Reed was looking like everything but a winner through two and a half rounds before shooting a back-nine 43 on Saturday. Hideki Matsuyama shot 78 on Sunday. Rory McIlroy was hampered by a Friday 76, Rickie Fowler had a 79 on Sunday. At least they all made it to the weekend. Phil Mickelson started his quest for a career Grand Slam with a 79 before missing he cut. Tiger Woods imploded on Friday to do the same. 4. Despite the carnage there were some confidence building efforts. Outside of DeChambeau and Wolff, there are a few who will take positive thoughts going forward. Xander Schauffele hates losing so he will take a while to see it but he's once again put himself in the mix in a huge tournament. His fifth-place finish is his seventh top-10 finish from 14 major starts, five of them are top 5s. It seems not a matter of if but when for the X-man. It was a decent week for Harris English as well who had to deal with a lost ball on the opening hole on Sunday, something that would not have likely happened had the event had fans. A year prior he was playing on conditional status on the PGA TOUR. Now he's seemingly back to his best. And we can't let this section go without a shout out to Will Zalatoris who after a record 11 straight top-20s on the Korn Ferry Tour, including a win, finished in a tie for sixth at Winged Foot. It's odds on he will be a permanent part of the PGA TOUR soon. 5. The distance debate will rage on. DeChambeau's body transformation and chase for distance has of course reopened the now long running debate on distance, or reigning in said distance, so as not to lose the essence of the sport the way it was originally designed. DeChambeau had the highest driving-distance average, and the lowest driving-accuracy percentage, ever recorded by a U.S. Open champion (since hole-by-hole data became available starting in 1983). The interesting thing here is though prior to DeChambeau's efforts the debate was spent mainly on technology in clubs and balls. There is no argument however that DeChambeau transformed his body to get to this point. Combining power and accuracy would bring an advantage to anyone, even in a reined in world. Former TOUR winner now Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee announced the future is now here. "The future just happened. This beefed-up, bulked-up Bryson just changed the game...there's been some seismic championships that have happened in this game ... I would argue that this one will eventually change the game either in the way it's played - I think both actually - or perhaps in the equipment that it's played with because the golf world's abuzz with is this good or is this bad? It can't decide. But what is, I think, amazing, is to see the transformation that he's made, the risks that he took. He risked it all to have it all," Chamblee said. "There's a definitive before and after with Bryson. We saw what he was and he is unrecognizable in body and in technique to the player that he was. If you're not paying attention to this and you're in professional golf, you're going to get left behind...it is one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen in the game ... If you're not an early adopter to this, you're missing out. This is as seismic as the metal wood was in the transformation from wood to metal." Justin Leonard, a 12-time TOUR winner and major champion, believes the effects will be both immediate and long term. "This week was a showdown between the modern golfer and a classic course that has been modernized. This U.S. Open is proof that all of the metrics about getting it down there as far as you can ... there was doubt, including from myself, that this would work in a major championship ... this week proved, at least in my mind, that if there was any doubt it should be erased," he said. "I think it will affect how every player in the field looks at a golf course. They may not be willing to go through the transformation, take the risk that Bryson did, to completely change everything ... but I think they are taking notice of club choices off of tees, of ‘I need to be a better player out of the rough' ... it will be fascinating to see the players that do change...if you're not taking notice of this and you're playing on the PGA TOUR, you're really putting yourself behind the 8-ball." If there is a big shift and bulk becomes the new norm in golf it will be interesting to see the longevity of a players career. The days of the 30-year career may shift towards 15-20 years. Tiger Woods used to go at the ball hard and now is four back surgeries deep. Jason Day has also been a player to go at the ball and he has back issues in his 30s. One thing is for sure, there are interesting times ahead. TOUR TOP 10 The new FedExCup season has a new leader after our second week with Bryson DeChambeau's win earning 600 points and sending him straight to the top. Last week's winner Stewart Cink was not in the U.S. Open field so he had no chance to keep top spot, but he can try to wrestle it back the next time he tees it up. The regular season top 10 will receive bonuses for their efforts. This Week/Last Week/Name/Points 1/-/Bryson DeChambeau/600 2/1/Stewart Cink/500 3/-/Matthew Wolff/330 4/2/Harry Higgs/300 5/-/Louis Oosthuizen/210 6/-/Harris English/150 7/3/Doc Redman/134 7/3/Chez Reavie/134 7/3/Kevin Streelman/134 7/3/Brian Stuard/134

Click here to read the full article…

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Notes and observations from the U.S. Team in Friday’s second round of the Presidents Cup, where the home team took an 8-2 lead. For more coverage from Liberty National, click here for the Daily Wrap-Up. THOMAS, FOWLER BRING IT It was the first time since the PGA Championship that Justin Thomas’ exuberance gave him a hoarse throat. Just as he did at Quail Hollow, Thomas holed out from off the green and it looks like come Sunday he’ll be hoisting another trophy. The FedExCup champion has brought his domination to the Presidents Cup. Thomas, who won five times this season, holed out a bunker shot on the 14th hole and executed two more deft short-game shots on the back nine of Friday’s Four-Balls victory with partner Rickie Fowler. They won, 3 and 2, over the International Team’s top duo, Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen. Grace and Oosthuizen were 5-0 until running into a new U.S. duo that could be dominant for decades to come. “I told Rickie on the first tee today, I’m like, ‘Come on, we need to bring it today,’â€� Thomas said. “They are great players. But man, we just kept fighting. To get that win was huge for us.â€� Thomas and Fowler, who are neighbors in Jupiter, Florida, are the only U.S. team to go 2-0 in the Presidents Cup’s first two sessions, helping the United States to a record-setting advantage. The home team leads 8-2, the largest lead a team has ever held after the first two sessions. Thomas, one of the TOUR’s best iron players, impressed with a strong short game Friday. His tee shot sailed well left on the drivable par-4 12th, but he executed a deft bump-and-run that stopped 13 feet from the hole. He made the birdie putt for a crucial halve that kept his team 2 up. Two holes later, he holed out a bunker shot for another halve. It was so good that, like his chip-in at Quail Hollow, he raised his arm in celebration several feet before the ball found the hole. Thomas birdied the 15th hole and his bunker shot at the next hole hit the flagstick. “We enjoy this so much,â€� Thomas said. “We’re going to play 15, 20 more years of this stuff, and if we continue to be partners, there’s going to be rounds where we really rely on the other one. (Fowler) really held us in the start when I wasn’t playing very well, and I made a couple birdies there later.â€� Thomas and Fowler have played just 30 holes in their two matches. They beat Charl Schwartzel and Hideki Matsuyama, 6 and 4, in the tournament’s opening match. They have lost only three holes, and trailed for only one hole. CALL OF THE DAY MICKELSON MAKING IT For the second consecutive day, Phil Mickelson stood on the 18th green with a birdie putt for the win. He made it this time. Mickelson holed a 12-foot birdie putt to win the 18th hole in his Friday Four-Balls match. He and partner Kevin Kisner beat the International Team’s Jason Day and Marc Leishman, 1 up, in a rematch of Thursday’s Foursomes match that ended all square after Mickelson missed an 8-foot par putt on the final hole. Kisner and Mickelson celebrated Friday’s finishing birdie with a celebration straight from “Three Amigos,â€� a 1980s comedy starring Martin Short, Chevy Chase and Steve Martin. “I thought we biffed it when we were doing it, but when I looked back and saw the replay, I think we kind of nailed it actually,â€� Mickelson said. “But I get that I can’t dance. I get that I can’t take selfies, but I can putt, and it was nice to roll that last one in.â€� CHAPPELL, HOFFMAN CAME TO PLAY Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman had to wait an extra day to make their Presidents Cup debut. It was worth the wait, as they teamed to score a 6-and-5 victory over Anirban Lahiri and Charl Schwartzel. It is the largest winning margin this week. Despite teeing off in the fourth match of the day, Chappell and Hoffman scored the United States’ first point. The day’s other four matches all went to at least the 16th hole. Hoffman and Chappell were only all square when they stepped to the first tee. They won the match’s first two holes and lost just one hole, the par-3 10th. “We were just grinding,â€� Hoffman said. “We didn’t know we got the first point. I wasn’t paying attention to the scoreboards or leaderboards or anything. Chappy and I were just trying to get the job done.â€� Hoffman, 40, is the second-oldest member of this year’s U.S. Team (only Phil Mickelson is older). Chappell, 31, holds the course record at Liberty National; he fired 62 in the third round of the 2013 THE NORTHERN TRUST. SHORT SHOTS Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth didn’t win Friday, but they kept their undefeated Presidents Cup record intact. The indomitable American duo used a late comeback to earn a halve against Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Hadwin. Spieth and Reed, who are now 2-0-1 as a Presidents Cup team, were 2 down through 14 holes. Reed made birdie on the 15th hole, and Spieth followed by knocking his tee shot stiff on the par-3 16th to square the match. Spieth lipped out a 19-foot birdie putt on the last hole. He and Reed are 6-1-3 in international team competition. The United States won Friday’s Four-Balls session, 4 ½ – ½. It was the first time since 2007 that a team failed to win a single point in a team-play session. There have been 46 team sessions in the history of the Presidents Cup; this was just the sixth in which a team failed to score 1 point. The last time before Friday was in 2007, when the U.S. Team shut out the Internationals in Day 3 Foursomes. All three teams that were kept intact for the first two sessions are undefeated. Fowler and Thomas are 2-0, while Spieth-Reed and Mickelson-Kisner are both 1-0-1. BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Click here to read the full article…

TRUCKEE, Calif. – Had Alex Noren stayed in Scotland, he would’ve competed at The 150th Open at St. Andrews. But he was itching to play golf this week, his schedule including an upcoming three-week competitive hiatus as a training period into the FedExCup Playoffs. He was on the grounds at the Old Course and played nine holes early Tuesday morning as first alternate. It wasn’t easy being at St. Andrews knowing his spot in the field was not guaranteed. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave, either. But it had been five days since anyone had withdrawn from The Open, and there wasn’t a clear indication that anybody else would. Noren felt good about his game, believing his form was strong enough to contend this week on any setup. He took the proverbial bird in hand, withdrew from The Open alternate list and flew to California for the Barracuda Championship. Justin Rose withdrew from The Open on Thursday morning with a back injury. He would have been replaced by Noren if the Swede had stayed on-site; he was replaced instead by Rikuya Hoshino. Erik van Rooyen withdrew later in the day and was replaced by Aaron Rai. Noren admits there were conflicting emotions when he learned this news Thursday, and he was slow to start the Barracuda Championship – standing at net 0 points through 14 holes of the opening round at Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood). He made two birdies on his final four holes, though, to gain a spark, and a 12-point performance Friday (six birdies, no bogeys) moved him into a tie for 11th through 36 holes in the TOUR’s only Modified Stableford scoring event. Noren, 40, made his decision and lived with it. He has recorded five top-25s in 10 career Open appearances and has played in 32 majors overall. He competed at the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews, as well. He intends on playing in several more majors. Not to say the experience hasn’t been a bit bittersweet. “It was a weird week,” reflected Noren after Friday’s second round in Truckee. “I was going to get into (The Open) and then it was just confusing (Thursday), weird emotions, because I couldn’t stand being there, and it was too good of an event, and I knew this was a good event, too. I just wanted to play somewhere, make sure I could play somewhere. “I booked a flight Tuesday morning. It took so long because I was first reserve from Thursday even to Wednesday, so nothing happened for over a — just like a week. I didn’t think anybody would withdraw. They actually did, and sad for them, but also I wanted to play this. I wanted to get some more points. I’ve got three weeks of training after this before the (FedExCup) Playoffs, and I wanted to play this week, and maybe that mindset made me have a little less patience that I needed this time. “Golf is a long career, and I’ve played a lot of (Open Championships), and I’ll get to play it again.” After finishing T30 at the Genesis Scottish Open, Noren arrived at St. Andrews on Monday night before his early-morning Tuesday practice nine. Still first alternate at that point, he decided to traverse eight time zones backward to the Sierra Nevada region – “going west like this is not that bad,” remarked Noren. “It’s worse going back east.” He arrived in Sacramento late Tuesday night, near midnight, and had trouble procuring his rental car and golf clubs. He got squared away at 10 a.m. Wednesday, worked with the TOUR to change his pro-am tee time to an afternoon slot, and made the 112-mile drive to Old Greenwood. Noren hails from Sweden but lives in south Florida now, practicing at The Bear’s Club. This combined with previous course knowledge – he finished T9 at the 2020 Barracuda Championship – made for a less daunting learning curve as he transitioned from links golf. “It helps living in America now,” Noren said. “You get these conditions pretty much every week. It’s not that tough going from surfaces. It’s probably easier going to faster greens like this than the other way around. “You need a day, preferably two or three, but a day is fine. If you go straight and don’t get a practice round, don’t get to practice putting at all, it’s pretty tough, but one day is fine.” Thursday was “a weird day,” admitted Noren. Through 14 holes, he was a few points off the cut-line pace, “just knowing that I could be at St. Andrews and then I’ve got to play some good golf here just to make the cut.” He relishes the Modified Stableford format, though, knowing it’s doable to jump up the leaderboard quickly. He rallied to move within striking distance of 36-hole leader Chez Reavie (28 points) and the 10-time DP World Tour winner is fully energized to chase his first TOUR title this weekend. Noren currently ranks No. 75 on the FedExCup, his TOUR season highlighted by a T5 at The Honda Classic. He’s motivated to improve that position before his pre-Playoffs training period, in an enjoyable setting. And he’ll be particularly motivated to make eagles. “I love this course,” Noren said. “It’s an interesting format. You can have a good chance for eagle on 12, and it’s just fun. You can make an eagle, or eagle-birdie in a row you’re 7 points. It’s like sometimes in golf when just nothing happens and then you need something like that. It’s a cool format, and I think you need a couple of eagles to make it happen, you know.”

Click here to read the full article…