Just like the NFL, Hittin’ the Links is back! Even though the PGA Tour and LPGA took the week off, there was still plenty of action on and off the links.
If you haven’t been paying attention to the inaugural Web.com Tour Finals, maybe you should take a look. While it lacks the star power of the FedExCup Playoffs, you will recognize a lot of names (Trevor Immelman, Ricky Barnes, Will MacKenzie, Ryo Ishikawa, Vaughn Taylor, et al.), and the drama doesn’t end when the tournament leader has a three-stroke lead on the 18th tee. While the top 25 money winners from the Web.com Tour’s regular season have already earned PGA Tour cards for 2014, the four week Finals will determine who gets the remaining 25 cards and the final pecking order of those cards. Next week, the Web.com Tour Finals visit my town — Columbus, OH — for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship at The Ohio State University Scarlet Course, before wrapping up the playoffs and season Sept. 26-29 at Dye’s Valley Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, for the Web.com Tour Championship.
In this edition of HtL, we ask the following: Who is the best PGA Tour player with only one win? Is Tim Tebow’s swing speed really 141 mph? And why you should probably consider Newton’s Third Law of Motion when deciding whether to cut a shot around that tree or just chip back into the fairway.
Hole 1: Are You Ready for Some Football (Players Playing Golf)?
During the offseason, a number of big-name football players turn their attention to birdies and pars. Here’s a ranking of the best golfers in the NFL. [Link]
Hole 2: Skull Session with Michelle Wie
Michelle Wie is apparently into skulls, some of them with glitter. Oh, and she’s a bit of an artist, too. [Link]
Hole 3: Bad Back, Great Golf
Back pain featured in two of the bigger golf stories this weekend. Kenny Perry battled back pain and Esteban Toledo into a playoff at the Montreal Championship before losing on the third extra hole. [Link] Justin Thomas fared even better at the Walker Cup. He finished 2-0-1, including a singles win on Sunday after sitting out the morning’s foursome competition with lower back pain. [Link]
Hole 4: Jason Dufner: Good Guy
As if his ball striking, #Dufnering, and sort of resembling Spaulding from Caddyshack weren’t enough, here’s one more reason to like first-time major winner Jason Dufner. [Link]
Hole 5: Technology You Wear
Technological advances have meant more to golf than 460 cc titanium drivers with low torque carbon fiber shafts and golf balls that fly a country mile. It has also changed what we wear. [Link]
Hole 6: Stats Fans Rejoice or When Will His Day Come?
If I told you that one TOUR player finished third at this year’s Masters, second at the U.S. Open, 32nd at the Open Championship, and eighth at the PGA, and I further told you that this guy only has one career PGA TOUR win, would you believe me? You should. His name is Jason Day, and you can research his 2013 Majors stats, as well as those of all competitors, on Golf Digest’s “Major Recap” tool. You can even see which player led a statistical category such as Putting or Relation to Par across all categories. Hint: Jason Day led both. [Link]
Hole 7: An Important Safety Tip from Your Uncle George
Consider humbly punching it back into the fairway instead of hitting that fade around the tree. Just saying… [Link]
Hole 8: I’m a Chiquita Banana and I’m Here to Say:
Andrew Svoboda took the second event of the Web.com Tour Finals when he beat Will MacKenzie on the first hold of a playoff for the Chiquita Classic on Sunday. The win ties Svoboda with Trevor Immelman for the lead on the Finals money list. [Link]
Hole 9: USA! USA!
In the biennial amateur men’s contest, the U.S. team dominated Sunday’s matches at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, NY, and handily beat the team from Great Britain and Ireland 17-9 to take back the Walker Cup. [Link]
Hole 7 is hilarious!