Monday, April 22nd, 2024 Edition
Scottie Scheffler continues dominant run with 2024 RBC Heritage win
– by Adam Schupak / Golfweek
Per Adam: “Scottie Scheffler spent an extra night in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, which typically wouldn’t be such a drag if not for his wife Meredith being pregnant back home in Dallas and awaiting the couple’s first child later this month…”
B&B POV: Scottie Scheffler is good at golf. Due to a rain bath that Hilton Head took yesterday, Scottie didn’t finish up his victory in the “Signature” RBC Heritage until early this AM. That now makes four victories in his last five tournaments. Heck, he missed a 6-footer in Houston two weeks ago to force a playoff. RBC Heritage could have very easily been his 5th victory in a row.
But the guy only ranks 96th on Tour in SG: Putting and 76th in Driving Distance. Is his game a charade? Smoke and mirrors. Not all. The rest of his stats tell the whole story: #1 in total SG; #1 Tee-to-Green; #1 Approach-the-Green; #1 in Greens-in-Reg; #1 in kicking ass. Just how good would he be if he was a Top 25 putter? Tigeresque?
Nelly Korda’s record-setting run reaches next level, collecting fifth consecutive victory and second major title
– by Kent Paisley / Golf Digest
Per Kent: “With a leap and a splash, Nelly Korda cemented one of the great runs in LPGA history. After winning the Chevron Championship Sunday with a final-round 69, she continued the tradition of jumping into the pond next to Carlton Woods’ 18th green…”
B&B POV: Before this season, and more than once in her young career, Nelly Korda has been ranked the #1 women’s professional golfer in the world. In 2021, she won an Olympic gold medal. But no one forecasted her 2024 season to turn out quite like it has. Six tourneys. Five wins…IN A ROW. And yesterday, a victory in the season’s first major – the Chevron Championship.
She’s only 25 years old. And like her counterpart Scottie Scheffler, she isn’t the best putter or the longest driver on her tour. Still, she is unquestionably the best golfer and leads her tour in many key statistical categories that show how special she is. Now sitting with two majors, 13 career tour victories, and an Olympic golf medal, if you don’t know who Nelly Korda is, you should. She’s a sure-fire future Hall-of-Famer.
WITB Winner’s Bag: Billy Horschel, 2024 Corales Puntacana Championship
– Thomas Hamden / Balls & Bogeys
Per Thomas: Middling Titleist staffer Billy Horschel didn’t earn/receive an invite to play in the RBC Heritage this weekend. He had only one top shelf option to ply his trade — tee it up in the Dominican Replublic in the Corales Puntacana Championship. So he went out and posted a final round 9-under 63 and won the event. The opposite field arse whooping helped him pick up some much-needed confidence, 300 FedEx Cup points, and $720k. Nice win for him. Nice win for Team Titleist.
Other than wielding a Ping putter, his whole bag was overflowing with Titleist gear, including his fancy pants ball of choice – Pro V1x+ prototype. You won’t find these pellets at Golf Galaxy. At least not yet.
Billy’s Golf Gear:
DRIVER: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees), with Fujikura Ventus Black TR 6 X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Titleist TSi2 (15 degrees), with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70g 6.5 TX shaft, (18 degrees), with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80g 6.5 TX shaft
IRONS: Titleist T100 (3, 5), 620 MB (6-9), with True Temper Dynamic Gold 120 X100 shafts
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold 120 X100 shaft, (52, 56, 60 degrees bent to 62), with Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Onyx S400 shafts
PUTTER: Ping Sigma 2 Tyne 4
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x+ prototype
Check out our Best Golf Drivers 2024 edition.
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PGA TOUR PAYOUTS! “Signature” Event – 2024 RBC Heritage vs. the Tour’s “Opposite Field” Event – Corales Puntacana Championship
– by Thomas Hamden / Balls & Bogeys
Per Thomas: Scottie Scheffler and Billy Horschel won two big events this past week. (Note: Scottie finished up his final round this morning due to Mother Nature having a meltdown yesterday afternoon in Hilton Head). One of the two won quite a bit more greenbacks. Scheff pocketed $3.6M and Billy $720k. During their careers on tour, Billy has won eight tourneys out of the 333 he has played in and nearly $37M. Scottie has nine victories out of 120 events and has won just under $58M. These are two rich athletes to say the least, but Scottie is 10 years younger and just now hitting his peak.
Tour Confidential: Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler excellence, TV ratings
– by GOLF Editors
Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss Nelly Korda’s excellence, Scottie Scheffler’s excellence, TV ratings and more.
What does B&B think?
- What has most impressed you about Nelly Korda’s five straight victories run? The fact that the 5th victory was in a major with all the additional pressure that comes with a tourney of that stature.
- Is Nelly Korda the “Caitlin Clark” of the LPGA Tour? Right now, Nelly’s playing golf at an amazingly high level, much like how Caitlin did in women’s college basketball these past two seasons. However, the biggest difference between the two ladies is their outward passion. Caitlin has an aura about her and plays with a cocky chip on her shoulder. Nelly is demure and refined. For Nelly to carry the tour (or Scheff to carry his), we’ll need to see more emotion and fire. Lots more.
- Are Scottie’s accomplishments diminished because of LIV and that tour’s best players not teeing it up in PGA TOUR events? Slightly diminshed. But only a smidge. He’s winning and beating 95% of the best players in the world week in and week out on the toughest golf courses. And when he does compete against the LIV clan, even when he doesn’t win, he’s only losing out to 1-2 of them. Today, Scottie is the next Spieth who was the next Rory who did his best but came up short of being the next Tiger. Scottie will likely leap Spieth and Rory in accolades and victories, but he’ll never win four majors in a row and claim world number 1 for nearly a decade, let alone a couple of years. He just doesn’t putt well enough.
- Why have TV ratings fallen so drastically for the PGA TOUR? Even the Masters was down 20% Y-O-Y. Golf just isn’t as interesting for the casual fan with the best players split over two tours. Even ardent fans are watching less because there aren’t as many stars at the top of the leaderboards on Sat. and Sun. Also, that one guy, uh, Tiger, yeah, he rarely plays anymore, and when he does, he averages 24 holes out of 72, and then heads home to FL. Golf needs another Tiger or Tiger-light star to flourish once again. And LIV needs to die…
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