Erica, Poppy and Rory McIlroy, Charley Hull, Nelly Korda, Elon Musk, President-Elect Donald Trump, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Korda and Caitlin Clark (clockwise from prime left).
Getty Photos
Welcome again to the Monday End, the place Caitlin Clark simply moved inside the highest 20 within the PIP — and we’re intrigued to see how she handles her LIV provide. To the information…
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GOLF STUFF I LIKE
A significant street journey.
Nelly Korda‘s week at The Annika started with a star-studded pro-am pairing. This Caitlin Clark crossover occasion wasn’t only a publicity stunt — it was a win-win-win alternative for the largest famous person in girls’s golf, the largest famous person in girls’s basketball and the best sport on the earth. It was a win for the LPGA, which drew what might have been its greatest pro-am crowd ever. It was a win for Clark, who admitted she’d had the spherical in thoughts for months and spent the day geeking out round Korda. And it was cool for Korda, who not often performs with somebody approaching her athletic equal and was impressed with Clark’s composure in entrance of huge crowds in her secondary sport.
“Simply chitchatting on the golf course, asking her questions, her asking me,” Korda stated. “We simply felt like two mates hanging out.”
Korda’s week proceeded like a dream. Though she was coming off an harm, she and one of many sport’s different greatest stars, Charley Hull, rose to the highest of the leaderboard by the weekend, little question thrilling match organizers within the course of. The 2 performed within the final group off on Sunday; Hull started the ultimate spherical with a one-shot lead over Korda.
“I all the time take pleasure in taking part in with Charley. She’s all the time a enjoyable time. Hopefully we give a great present,” Korda stated.
Korda’s week concluded in epic trend; it proved a “good present” certainly. After three bogeys in her first eight holes, Korda flipped a swap on the flip and ripped off birdies on 11-12-13-14-15. 5 in a row took her from chaser to chased; she seized the lead and by no means seemed again. By the point she two-putted No. 18 for par she’d clinched a three-shot win, the seventh of her unbelievable season.
“There’s nothing like being within the hunt, the adrenaline feeling on the again 9, and being in competition. I like it a lot,” she stated.
However the second that actually caught out got here on the finish of her winner’s interview. “We regularly see your mother and pa out strolling,” Golf Channel’s Karen Stupples stated. “However we see your brother is right here.”
Nelly’s brother Sebastian Korda is among the many greatest American skilled tennis gamers; he reached a peak of World No. 15 this summer time. As a result of he and his sisters are every continuously on the street they don’t typically see one another in motion, so this was a particular afternoon; Seb had pushed a pair hours to catch his sister’s ultimate three holes.
“I didn’t know that,” Nelly stated to Stupples, catching her brother’s eye in actual time. “I simply noticed him.”
Stupples double-checked. “That is your first time seeing him?”
And with that, as we neared the conclusion of a 12 months that had already included a half-dozen wins, a serious, a horrifying 10, a collection of stunning missed cuts, a Solheim Cup signature second, a neck harm and even a literal canine chunk, we noticed a facet of Korda we hadn’t.
“Yeah, and that is my first time profitable in entrance of him,” Korda stated, and now she was barely holding again tears. “I haven’t seen him in a pair months — so it’s good to see him.”
And off she went to present her child brother a champagne-soaked hug. Successful in entrance of the individuals who matter essentially the most? That’s golf stuff I like.
WINNERS
Who received the week?
–Rory McIlroy received the DP World Tour Championship, ending his rollercoaster 2024 season with an exclamation level. “I’ve been by quite a bit this 12 months professionally, personally,” he stated. “It feels just like the becoming finish to 2024.” Whereas McIlroy acknowledged that even he’ll look again at this season with combined emotions — the near-miss on the U.S. Open might by no means actually go away him — this was a significant method to end.
“I feel I’d have been depressing for a number of weeks if I hadn’t received right now,” McIlroy admitted. “It will have simply added to the listing of ones that I felt I let get away, and for one to not get away and to recover from the road and be the ultimate occasion of the 12 months, it feels good.”
He supplied a good appraisal of his 12 months, too, within the context of the perfect gamers on the earth.
“I understand how persons are going to view my 12 months and I view my 12 months equally however on the identical time, I nonetheless have to recollect I received 4 occasions and I received a [sixth career] Race to Dubai. I amassed a variety of huge finishes and massive performances, and the 2 guys that had higher years than me have had profession years. Xander [Schauffele] received two majors, and Scottie [Scheffler] received a Gamers and a Masters and an Olympic gold medal. They’re the one two guys this 12 months that I feel which have had higher years than me.”
This win was a testomony to McIlroy’s longevity. It was additionally a reminder of what we’ve to stay up for subsequent 12 months.
-Together with her win, Nelly Korda grew to become the primary participant since 2011 to win seven occasions in an LPGA season and the primary American since 1990. She’ll have yet one more likelihood so as to add to her whole on the CME Group Tour Championship subsequent week.
–Rafael Camposreceived his first PGA Tour occasion in fairytale trend. He entered the week a brand new father; his spouse Stephanie gave delivery to their daughter Paola on Monday. However he additionally entered the week at No. 147 within the FedEx Cup and on the point of dropping his card; solely the highest 125 after subsequent week’s RSM Traditional obtain full standing for 2025.
However Campos arrived in Bermuda on Wednesday and embraced every little thing the occasion needed to provide, specifically the island’s famously wild situations and the challenges that include it. He fired a Saturday 62, bounced again from a missed one-footer on Sunday and held regular down the stretch en path to a three-shot win.
“I simply can’t consider that is really taking place to me after such a 12 months,” Campos stated. “I’m simply grateful to have the ability to name myself a PGA Tour champion. It’s one thing I’ve dreamt about all my life — I simply wish to name my household.”
–Max McGreevy received the Dunlop Phoenix Match on the Japan Golf Tour, holding off a gifted area that included Akshay Bhatia and Hideki Matsuyama, who completed T2.
-And two members of LIV Golf received in returns to their dwelling excursions; Dean Burmester received on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa whereas Lucas Herbert held off fellow LIV star Cameron Smith on the PGA Tour Australasia’s NSW Open.
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NOT-WINNERS
A couple of guys who didn’t win however nonetheless kinda received.
-On the PGA Tour, Andrew Novak threw down the perfect results of his profession with a runner-up end in Bermuda. Sam Ryder completed T5 to go from exterior the magic quantity (No. 135 within the FedEx Cup) to inside (No. 122). Vince Whaley completed T5 in Bermuda, too, to maneuver from the bubble (No. 123) to security (No. 113). Wesley Bryan had a turbulent 61-74 weekend to complete T17; he’s up from No. 128 to No. 125 and can enter the RSM Traditional straight on the bubble.
Adrien Dumont de Chassert didn’t end higher than T30 in a full-field PGA Tour occasion all 12 months however confirmed out in a T3 end in Bermuda. And Kevin Kisner completed T29, his greatest end result since Nov. 2022.
-On the LPGA Tour, Charley Hull backed up her the LET win she’d earned in her most up-to-date begin together with her fourth top-10 of the LPGA season. Weiwei Zhang completed T2 alongside her to safe her card for the 2025 season. And Rose Zhang completed T5, her greatest end result since profitable the Cognizant Founders Cup again in Could.
SHORT HITTERS
10 professionals who earned PGA Tour playing cards.
With the DP World Tour’s ultimate occasion of the 12 months got here the ultimate listing of men who earned PGA Tour standing for subsequent season. For the second consecutive season, the DPWT’s 10 greatest gamers earned twin membership — let’s buzz by ’em.
10. Tom McKibbin is a 21-year-old Northern Irishman who grew up in Belfast and performed Holywood Golf Membership — sure, Rory McIlroy‘s dwelling course — rising up. He snagged the tenth and ultimate spot because of a T11 end in Dubai.
“He’s executed amazingly effectively, and I feel his sport goes to be fitted to America,” McIlroy stated post-win.
9. Rikuya Hoshino is a 28-year-old from Japan who received his first DPWT title this season; he’s additionally a six-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour.
8. Antoine Rozner is a 31-year-old Frenchman who has received thrice on the DPWT; he’ll hope to observe within the footsteps of countryman Matthieu Pavon, who rode this identical exemption right into a PGA Tour win earlier this 12 months.
7. Thorbjorn Olesen is a 34-year-old Dane who’s, unusually, incomes his PGA Tour standing by this class for the second consecutive season. Sitting in 157th within the FedEx Cup, Olesen selected to play the DPWT’s fall schedule as a substitute of the FedEx Fall on the PGA Tour. It proved a sensible alternative: He completed T12-T2-T7-T3 to safe his spot.
6. Matteo Manassero is a 31-year-old Italian and onetime prodigy who’s taking part in his greatest golf in a decade. You’ll bear in mind Manassero as a 16-year-old taking part in alongside Tom Watson on the 2009 Open; you’ll additionally bear in mind him as a teenage winner on the DPWT. Now he’ll get to make new PGA Tour recollections.
5. Niklas Norgaard is a 32-year-old Dane whose greatest season but included his first DPWT victory; he’s by no means performed a stateside full-field PGA Tour occasion and has by no means been in a serious championship, both.
4. Jesper Svensson is a 28-year-old Swede who received the Porsche Singapore Traditional for his first DPWT victory and, at No. 96, presently slots in because the world’s third-ranked Swede behind Ludvig Aberg (No. 5) and Alex Noren (No. 53).
3. Paul Waring is a 39-year-old Englishman who has barely performed within the U.S. as a professional however punched his ticket because of a gutsy win in Abu Dhabi final week. He and McKibbin are, apparently, the one professionals on this listing from conventional {golfing} hotbeds within the U.Ok. and Eire.
2. Thriston Lawrence is a 27-year-old South African who put collectively arguably essentially the most constant season on the DPWT in 2024; he began the season with a runner-up end in Dubai and added 4 extra second-place outcomes over the course of the season. Wanting profitable, he did about in addition to he may have and he needs to be an element on Tour subsequent 12 months.
1. Rasmus Hojgaard is a 23-year-old Dane whose brother Nicolai earned his PGA Tour card by this pathway a 12 months in the past; Rasmus barely missed out and was relegated to Ryder Cup cart driver whereas his brother made his Workforce Europe debut. Now the title of greatest Hojgaard is again in query — Rasmus’ second-place end in Dubai secured him the highest exemption spot to the PGA Tour and he’s as much as No. 45 on the earth, the perfect variety of his profession. (Nicolai is presently No. 58.) Now we’ll be seeing double on the PGA Tour — and even perhaps at Bethpage subsequent fall.
ONE SWING THOUGHT
Nelly Korda on worry.
“The center of the season [golf] felt like the toughest factor on the earth,” Nelly Korda stated on Contained in the LPGA this week, talking about her rollercoaster summer time. “And there’s all of the criticism that you simply hear however you don’t wish to have a look at — it’s robust to take care of.
“After which I used to be afraid to make errors, however to the purpose the place, after I was afraid to make errors, I began making extra errors, as a result of I used to be so afraid of them. And I simply needed to inform myself look, I’m a human being, I’m going to have good days and I’m going to have actually dangerous days and people doesn’t outline me. I can’t be afraid of creating errors as a result of it’s simply going to eat me alive.
Korda added that she’s “nonetheless head over heels in love” with golf. Which may be her greatest asset of all.
ONE BIG QUESTION
What to do about sluggish play?
Charley Hull ripped the LPGA’s woeful tempo of play after Saturday’s spherical had her ending within the darkness regardless of no vital delays.
“It was loopy,” Hull stated of the third spherical, which she stated took 5 hours, 40 minutes to finish. “I’m fairly ruthless however I stated hear, if you happen to get three dangerous timings, each time it’s a two-shot penalty [and] you probably have three of them you lose your tour card immediately. I’m certain that may hurry lots of people up and so they received’t wish to lose their tour card.
“That will kill the sluggish play, however they might by no means try this.”
Hull’s proper — they by no means would. However sluggish play is one factor professional golf can’t proceed to screw up. Sure, it’s all the time going to be a fragile stability. Sure, professionals are taking part in for larger and larger prizes. Sure, greens are solely getting sooner and tricker because the years go on. However as each different sport doubles down on holding the motion going and holding eyeballs on the display, golf can’t get slower. Per Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek, the Annika’s sponsor, Gainbridge, has requested they shrink the sector from its present 120-player dimension. That’s in all probability a great name, however it’s treating the symptom relatively than the basis trigger.
Is Hull’s answer the right one? No, in all probability not. I’ll add one other half-baked concept to the pile, although: after a sure period of time (30 or 40 seconds, say), gamers might be zapped with some mild doses of electrical shock, simply sufficient to screw ’em up on a full swing. Loads of incentive to hit the ball within the allotted period of time. Let’s strive some stuff. That query, then: What stuff?
ONE MERGER UPDATE
Trump, Yasir and Jay.
On Friday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan accepted an invite to play golf with President-Elect Donald Trump at Trump Worldwide in West Palm Seashore, Fla.
On Saturday evening, Trump was noticed ringside at Madison Sq. Backyard, the place he was flanked by…Yasir Al-Rumayyan! The PIF governor and LIV chairman sat straight subsequent to Trump all through the night.
What do these conferences, which have been first reported by the Washington Submit, really imply? That continues to be to be seen, and maybe not a complete lot. However it’s a reminder that the subsequent U.S. president is on the middle of a number of Venn Diagrams involving skilled golf, Saudi Arabia and U.S. politics.
ONE THING TO WATCH
Caitlin Clark performs 18.
How’d the 22-year-old look with a membership in hand? Right here’s her full pro-am spherical:
NEWS FROM SEATTLE
Monday End HQ.
We haven’t gotten a Christmas tree but however we’re formally making tentative plans to take action. Welcome to mid-November. The Leaf Rule is in full impact.
See you subsequent week!
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Dylan Dethier is a senior author for GOLF Journal/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams Faculty, the place he majored in English, and he’s the creator of 18 in America, which particulars the 12 months he spent as an 18-year-old residing from his automobile and taking part in a spherical of golf in each state.
