Adding in “legitimately” is the tell. What the hell is an illegitimate hole-in-one? Oh, I know, one the Former Guy claims to have made. I’d bet everything the Good Wife has that TFG and I are tied at zero*. I haven’t pegged it in a long time, but I’d play TFG straight up tomorrow for all his classified documents.
No, don’t be silly, I would not sell them, I would promptly return them to the National Security Agency, thus becoming an even bigger hero.
*my greatest shame in life
Could Denver’s point center be any more different than their football team’s image conscious media loving quarterback? More Jokić and less Wilson please.
As I’m sure you know, the year’s third professional golf major championship, the (dis)United States Open, is underway at Los Angeles Country Club.
What a great course. Bonus points for being a stones throw from the world’s greatest university.
I was about to submit my application when I learned no shorts are allowed. Some of the other rules are a bit onerous too. Guess I’ll stick with Tumwater Valley GC.
Some of LACC’s rules.
It’s common knowledge that Pressing Pause is the place to go to make sense of all things professional golf. Apologies to RZ, DDTM, and the legion of other regulars who have just about lost all their patience with me.
First, James Colgan and Sean Zak did a nice job detailing Rose Zhang’s arrival on their most recent Drop Zone podcast. If you don’t know this RZ (what are the odds of two famous golf RZ’s?), you will soon enough.
Zhang, in two years at Stanford, played in 20 tournaments and won 12 of them. That’s absurd. Then, last week she won her first professional tournament becoming the first pro to do that since 1951. Smart, personable, seemingly immune to pressure. The “future of women’s golf”.
For as thoughtful as they are, Colgan and Zak dropped the ball (Drop Zone pun intended) by not pointing out that Zhang won $412,500 versus Viktor Hovland’s $3.6m check he earned an hour earlier at Nicklaus’s Memorial tournament. For those keeping score at home, Zhang’s victory earned her 11.5% of Hovland’s.
That’s a woefully underreported scandal in professional golf. Critics of this discrepancy always say that’s because of the vast differences in commercial sponsorships, meaning eyeballs, but that begs the question of how/when is that calculus ever going to change. Maybe I should be the LPGA commish.
Tangent. Hovland deserves major props for cashing his check on Sunday and then caddying for his college teammate at a US Open qualifier on Monday. The young Norwegian carried his boy’s bag. That’s class personified.
Alright, are we warmed up now? When one of my golf besties texted me about the LIV/PGA merger, I texted back, “Is this for real?” I thought someone might have been punking us.
All I’ll say is some decisions are so bad—Chris Licht amplifying Donald Trump’s bullshit, everything Elon Musk has done at Twitter since buying it, dismembering a dissenting journalist—that there’s no coming back from them. Licht is out at CNN. Twitter’s ad revenue has cratered and the value of the company has fallen by two-thirds. And yet, Musk and MBS are so wealthy it looks like they can survive anything, thanks to the likes of PGA commissioner Jay Monahan.
Jay Monahan won’t survive though. “Hypocrisy” isn’t a strong enough word for his double dealing with LIV’s Saudi’s funders, we need another. One Pressing Pauser asked me “If the PGA supports dismemberment now?”
It appears so, at least a few of the most influential suits. I went cold turkey on CNN post Trump “town hall” vowing to never watch it again. Professional golf’s future is still as murky as the New York City skyline. Sadly though, my golf sickness is far too advanced for me to go full CNN on the PGA.
Go ahead, call me a sad (sick) sellout. Probably fits.
Watch from the 32 minute mark. Incredible acceleration over the final 400 meters.
24 year-old Australian, Minjee Lee, is the 6th ranked women’s golfer in the world. At this week’s LPGA event, she starts the final round with a three stroke lead on the field. Great player, even better product endorser. In fact, I challenge you to find a better one.
And Taishi Ito is more than alright.
We never really know the athletes, actors, and other public figure’s whose work we enjoy. With that caveat, I liked early Kevin Durant, the one who talked lovingly about his mom when he was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2014.
Since then, he has gotten incredibly prickly, or maybe surly is the better word. Sensitive to criticism, the more he received, the more surly he became.
And then I read this Ryan Hockensmith piece, “The year (and friendship) that changed Kevin Durant forever” and I’m back to giving KD the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure that news will make his day.
Friendship first.
Half-marathon runner hands his winner’s medal to a rival because of a routing mistake.
“I told him, ‘Not to worry, mate, I saw the bike take you the wrong way. And after doing the maths and calculating how much time you lost because of the mistake, it was clear to me that you would have hung on and won had this not happened.'”
The Mail Online gets seriously carried away with their retelling of the story, “. . . shocking mistake, drama afterwards, stunning gesture.” Maybe they could’ve shortened it to “Ferwey is a good dude.” On the other hand, I am “chuffed” whenever “chuffed” is used.
If you’re ever in a race with Hassan, you better damn well drop her before the final 400 meters. Or you’re toast.
120 mile training weeks in the lead up during Ramadan, meaning no water or food during daylight, is inconceivable.
Her first marathon after dominating on the track. Afterwards, she was asked if she’s the best ever. She said, “No.” The followup, “What do you need to do to be considered the greatest of all time?” Hassan paused, and said, “I don’t need to be the greatest ever, I’m fine the way I am.”
Fireworks on the men’s side too. Kipchoge has a peer. Kelvin Kiptum ran the second half in 59:45 to finish in 2:01:35, 16 seconds off Kipchoge’s world record.
Pressing Pause 