With the PGA TOUR’s Super Season in the books, let’s take a moment to reflect on all that we saw over the last campaign. It was a slate chock-full of big moments. There was the $15 million prize for the FedExCup and another invaluable honor, the Olympic gold medal, that came with no cash prize. There were six majors and the PLAYERS Championship listed among the 51 events played over the last year. Our writing team was at nearly every one of them, bringing you first-hand accounts of the action and insightful stories that aimed to bring you closer to the TOUR and its players. To reflect on the season that was, PGATOUR.COM’s writing team looked back at the favorite stories they told over this Super Season. CAMERON MORFIT, STAFF WRITER, PGATOUR.COM Jordan Spieth stood at the dais and chose his words carefully. Was he back? Better to say he was “a work in progress.” After all, he had hit fewer than half the fairways through three rounds of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. And there was no reason to poke the golf gods by insinuating that he had it all figured out. But we all knew what we’d just seen. Golf Twitter was going crazy. The hair on my arms stood at attention amid what amounted to a Spieth highlight reel straight out of 2015. He had made a cross-country chip-in birdie on 10, a nearly 40-foot putt for birdie on 16, and a nearly 30-foot birdie on 17 on the way to a third-round 61 at TPC Scottsdale, tying his career low and playing his way into Sunday’s final tee time. “Vintage Jordan,” playing partner Billy Horschel said. The moment was pure electricity, and all seemed right again in golf. Here was a guy who had reached the absolute pinnacle of the game in 2015, winning two majors, the TOUR Championship, Player of the Year, and the No. 1 world ranking. But upon his arrival at TPC Scottsdale he’d made three cuts in seven starts for the season, his best a T38. He hadn’t won since the 2017 Open Championship and hadn’t played his way into the final tee time, final round, since the ’18 Open. Now, though, he had, and would tee off alongside Xander Schauffele with the tournament title on the line on Sunday. In the end, Spieth shot a 72 to tie for fourth. Schauffele didn’t win, either. The victory went to Brooks Koepka, who began the day at 13 under par, five off the lead. Still, it was clear there was another winner: golf. After a descent into golf madness – 92nd in the world, 179th in the FedExCup – Spieth was incontrovertibly back. He would win the Valero Texas Open two months later. Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship Every so often in sports you get a result that defies all reason. Phil Mickelson, a month shy of 51, was so clearly on the downside of his career, and so wild off the tee, it would have seemed borderline insane to pick him to win the PGA at Kiawah. For one week, though, he believed, hit the fairways, and survived a flash mob on the 72nd hole to become the oldest player to win a major. I still can’t believe it happened, but according to his Twitter account, it did. Willie Mack III at the Rocket Mortgage Classic I didn’t want to interview his family members because I didn’t want him to see me and get distracted. Willie Mack III held his nerve and tapped in for par to make his first PGA TOUR cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. He hadn’t had many advantages. He’d literally driven his car (and nearly himself) to death on the mini-tours. Such was his talent that a well-known swing coach, upon seeing his action up-close, had asked how he wasn’t on TOUR yet. Now Mack, the recipient of a sponsor exemption, had made the weekend rounds. He would make the cut again at the John Deere Classic a week later. Garrick Higgo at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree I stood next to Garrick Higgo’s mother, Susan, as Jim Nantz, in the trophy ceremony at the 18th green, ran through just what was coming to Higgo for winning. He was eligible to join the PGA TOUR (which he’s done) where he would be exempt through the 2022-23 season. He would be going to the Masters, among other big-time tournaments. Susan gasped. Her son was still just a kid, still wide-eyed to even be in America. His life had changed. Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open I was behind the tee on a par 4 when I overheard Bryson DeChambeau ask his caddie where the pin was. He really was playing a different game. On a course devoid of on-site spectators where virtually no one could hit many fairways, DeChambeau’s length advantage and deadeye putting were a potent combo. Although he hit the short grass just 41 percent of the time, he won by six. Everything had changed. His stunned fellow competitors vowed to ramp up their own power games – sometimes to their detriment. BEN EVERILL, STAFF WRITER, PGATOUR.COM Standing between Riviera Country Club’s 11th green and 12th tee Bubba Watson was making a beeline towards me and my heart was pounding. It was early in the opening round of the Genesis Invitational and players don’t usually deviate towards writers mid-competition. I wasn’t overly surprised though because we had just published my story on Watson’s fight with anxiety and ADHD and despite the fact I was confident in the piece, you never know how a player will respond to their personal life being discussed openly. He reached out for a fist pump and said, “Great job man,” and continued on his way. It was all the feedback I needed and solidified my feeling that Watson has long been misunderstood and that his story was an important one to be shared. It was a few weeks earlier at Torrey Pines that Watson had shuffled around on the spot, rambled, and refused to look me in the eye during a pre-arranged interview. It would have been easy to assume he was the jerk so many people have decided he is. He made awkward jokes to some serious questions and I could have easily dreaded the assignment ahead of me – writing something lengthy on the 12-time PGA TOUR winner. But I was nervously excited for this one. While Watson’s team had hoped to use the interview to push his business dealings, I had been waiting for the chance to delve into his ADHD. I’d been studying the disorder for a few years and the reality is there is a lot of misconceptions about it and those with it are often misjudged. Watson is by no means a perfect human – nor does he claim to be – but he is a kind-hearted fun-loving hyper-focused individual who has had a very positive impact on this world. And I for one hope his differences are celebrated rather than denigrated in the future. Rahm’s Rebound I was standing on the 18th green at Muirfield Village on Saturday afternoon when a TOUR official met Jon Rahm and told him discreetly that he’d tested positive for COVID-19. I had no idea at the time what had been whispered to him but Rahm was clearly devastated and my first instinct was there may have been a potential rules violation like had happened on his way to victory a year prior. Not that it would have mattered if that was the case because Rahm had been playing video game golf up to that point. I’d finally witnessed my first hole-in-one in person earlier in the day when he aced the 16th while finishing a rain delayed second round and when he was approached, he had surged to a six-shot lead with a round to go. But moments later we were all stunned to learn he was out of the tournament. Less than two weeks later I eagerly awaited to hear from Rahm when he arrived at Torrey Pines for the U.S. Open. Would he be hating the world for what happened in Ohio or would he shake it off and remember he was in stellar form coming to a place he loved. He chose the latter and his pre-tournament press conference had me convinced he was the main to beat. Rahm backed it up and showed incredible maturity to find his way to his first major championship. The final two birdie putts were incredible theater on the way to a brilliant win. Team Mullet In the lead up to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans I had phone calls with Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith to talk about their upcoming partnership at the TOUR’s team event. Immediately I was bummed I wasn’t slated to cover the event. It was certainly apparent the great Aussie mates had a point to prove after being overlooked as a partnership in the 2019 President’s Cup and I wanted to be there to see it. It was on the call with Leishman he revealed he planned to surprise Smith by turning up on the first tee with a mullet wig to match his mate and also the fact he’d switched their entrance music to The Mullet Song. I knew they were unbeatable from that moment on and while it took an incredible chip in from Leishman on the 17th hole Sunday and a playoff hole to get the win, it was a very popular win in my household. Patty Ice and Bryson battle The final round of the BMW Championship quickly turned into a two-horse race between Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau and boy was it a beauty to watch. Earlier in the week I’d marveled at DeChambeau bludgeoning his way around Caves Valley, almost shooting 59 one day and making back-to-back eagles at another point. But all along Cantlay didn’t blink and just hung around. A small group of dudes amongst huge crowds had been calling Cantlay “Patty Ice” all week and come Sunday more and more people were joining in. They traded blows throughout the final round and 18 holes was not enough to separate them. In the end Cantlay was ice cold and eventually prevailed in an epic six-hole playoff. Morikawa the man in England After having to spend five days in a small hotel in England in quarantine before The Open Championship – which included my 40th birthday – I wasn’t in the greatest moods heading to Royal St Georges. But I kicked myself in the butt soon enough and remembered how much of a privilege it is to cover any TOUR event, particularly The Open. Four days later I’d witnessed history as Collin Morikawa put together a week that had elements of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at their best combined together. While it was his second major, and I’d been at the first, this one was in front of a huge crowd with plenty of pressure being applied. He was impervious to it and well and truly had come of age. Tribute to the Big Fella This year my good mate Jarrod Lyle would have been 40 had we not lost him way too soon after three bouts with cancer. I miss him every day. I was humbled to be asked to be one of many who paid tribute to him. HELEN ROSS, WRITER, PGATOUR.COM This one was a thrill for this UNC graduate. I’d interviewed Roy Williams before when I was researching a story about how Michael Jordan learned to play golf. That was a brief interview, though, conducted courtside at the Smith Center while the veteran coach multi-tasked and watched kids at his summer camp make their moves toward the basket. Fast forward four years. Williams was not even three weeks into his retirement when I asked Steve Kirshner, UNC’s senior associate athletic director for sports information and media relations, if he thought the Hall of Famer would give me a call to talk golf. He said he was sure it could be arranged and told me to be ready. And sure enough, late one morning about a week later, without warning, Coach Williams called me from his home in the Charleston area. He proceeded to tell story after story – among the many, about playing golf with Jordan, David Robinson, John Stockton and Charles Barkley during the original Dream Team practice back in 1992 and the two rounds he played with President Barack Obama, who later came to shoot hoops with Williams’ Tar Heel squad. And I loved the one about why he missed out on a chance to play golf with the late Arnold Palmer. But get this. While we were talking, someone began backing into Coach Williams’ driveway to collect his two golf carts, which had remained idle during COVID, and take them to the shop to be tuned up. For many, that would have been the perfect escape – particularly after Coach Williams had already graciously given me 30 minutes of his time. Instead, he asked me if it would be all right if he called me back. Of course, I said yes – and he did. We talked another 15 minutes before saying goodbye. The interview still makes me smile. It was that much fun. We ran the story on Roy Williams Day at the Wells Fargo Championship. I can’t say it was my greatest piece of writing – in fact, it was basically just a compilation of his stories in his words. Hopefully it was as enjoyable to read as the interview was to do. I remember when J.R. Smith spurned Williams’ Tar Heels in 2004 and opted to go directly from his New Jersey high school to a highly successful NBA career. Well, at the Wyndham Championship last month, we found out that the 6-foot-6 shooting guard has decided to get that college degree after all – only this time he’s going to North Carolina A&T, one of the nation’s top HBCUs, and he plans to use his eligibility to play on the golf team. He was already wearing an A&T logo on his shirt when I talked with him at Sedgefield Country Club before he teed off in the pro-am and proceeded to show he had definite skills on that steamy afternoon. To make the story even better, the Wyndham Championship is going to help sponsor events for the A&T men’s and women’s golf teams. Don’t be surprised if Trevor Immelman, the captain of the International Team at the 2022 Presidents Cup, asks Clemson coach Dabo Swinney to give his squad a pep talk before the matches at Quail Hollow Club next September. The two have become close friends since being introduced on a fishing trip in Florida in 2008. Immelman is such a die-hard fan that he used to wake up at all hours to watch the games when he was playing overseas. The former Masters champ has been inside the Tigers’ locker room, too, speaking to the team before the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl, although he’ll tell you it was “nothing Rudy-like.” Maybe not, but Swinney says that he’s impressed by what a competitor Immelman is – two peas in a pod, as far as that is concerned. To be honest, I know virtually nothing about cars – except where to put the gas in. But I was fascinated when I talked to Michael Thompson about how he taught himself to take the engine of that 1967 Mustang fastback he’d bought apart and rebuild it. He learned from videos and magazines and manuals, and the entire process took roughly four years. Think about that for a minute – the patience it required in a world where instant gratification is king. But he says his hobby helps him find balance and he likeds the process of fixing a car with figuring out how to pull off a great golf shot. And he’s even become so good at tinkering on cars that players like Keith Mitchell and Harris English have asked him to work on theirs. SEAN MARTIN, SENIOR EDITOR, PGATOUR.COM The conversation started with one of my favorite topics: obscure amateur golf trivia. With Rory Sabbatini rocketing up the leaderboard in the Olympic men’s golf competition, Stefan Schauffele, whose son currently held the lead, was curious about Sabbatini’s age. Well, I said, Sabbatini must be in his mid-40s since he finished runner-up to Tiger Woods in the 1996 NCAA Championship. Most people would simply grab their phone and conducted a web search. I’d rather throw a random nugget out there. Stefan was intrigued. We’d met several years earlier – walking Erin Hills’ back nine while Xander played the role of surprise contender at the 2017 U.S. Open – but hadn’t talked much since. Soon the conversation went down some even deeper holes. We discussed the Southern California golf scene and mutual friends in the area before the conversation turned my 4-year-old’s own obsession with the game. It was an enjoyable conversation about several random topics, and it gave me an opportunity to observe a father watching his son try to chase down an Olympic medal. It’s something you definitely won’t see every day. Despite the immensity of the achievement, Stefan’s mood never changed. He described himself as an observer, not a fan. He walked several hundred yards ahead of his son, viewing Xander’s swing through a monocle. The emotions could wait until the end, after Xander got up-and-down from 100 yards to win the gold. It was then that Stefan, an immigrant of German-French heritage, could share a strong hug with his son before tearing up during the playing of the national anthem. The Schauffeles’ own Olympic ties made the story even stronger. It was a climax to the Olympics that made the whole experience – even the long-haul flight, the jet lag, quarantine and COVID protocols — worthwhile. Our Olympic experience was dampened by our inability to tour Tokyo or take in other Olympic competitions, but as the father of three boys I am a sucker for a good father-son story. POWER GAME: Newspapers.com is one of my favorite websites. It’s a subscription that I gladly renew every year. Being able to search stories from decades ago – even those from the pre-Google (gasp!) days – really adds context to what is going on today. Digging through the archives added context to Bryson DeChambeau’s distance project and showed that stars throughout the years have known about its advantages. It was Arnold Palmer, in 1962, who said, “Distance is everything in modern golf.” ‘THE HEART AND SOUL OF HOUSTON GOLF’: I quickly fell in love with Houston’s Memorial Park during my visit a few weeks before it hosted the Houston Open. I grew up on a 5,000-yard golf course with a night-lit range where you hit off artificial-turf mats, so I felt right at home at another public course with a similar range. It was great to see another municipal course – especially one with as colorful a history as Memorial Park’s – added to the PGA TOUR calendar, and I was happy to tell its story. THE SECRETS TO COLLIN MORIKAWA’S SWING: We all know Collin Morikawa is the best iron player on the PGA TOUR. But I wanted to know why. Morikawa and his coach, Rick Sessinghaus, gave some good insights, to his innate control of the clubface, the punch-shot drills that ingrained that skill and how his creativity also is an asset.
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