Dominant Displays by Hodges and Boutier

Lee Hodges won the 3M Open on the PGA Tour in wire-to-wire fashion, carding a final-round 67 to claim his first PGA Tour win by seven strokes at 24 under. The 28-year-old dominated the competition at TPC Twin Cities, setting tournament records in the process. He started the day with a five-stroke lead on J.T. Poston and was up by three entering the par-5 last hole. After Poston’s go-for-broke approach yielded a triple bogey (and cost himself $260k USD), Hodges tapped in a short birdie putt to seal the deal. Hodges’ victory secured not only a career-defining win, but also an invitation into next year’s Masters, the first trip to Augusta of his professional career.

The other big news of the tournament was Justin Thomas’ missed cut, which comes straight off the back of another missed cut at The Open last week. Thomas is now at real risk of missing The Playoffs which commence in two week’s time at The FedEx St, Jude Championship, along with the Ryder Cup scheduled for September in Italy. You can bet that US Team Captain Zac Johnson and his Assistant Fred Couples will try all they can to get Thomas on the team. We are torn about Thomas’ selection - based on current form, it should be a HARD NO. But he is made for Ryder Cup situations (much like Ian Poulter on the Euro side) and his usual pairing with Jordan Speith in foursomes and fourball could spark him back into form. You can see the desperation in Thomas, who remained behind at TPC Twin Cities after missing the cut to grind away on the range and practice green (which must have been somewhat humiliating for the 2-time major champion).

Meanwhile. 29-year-old Frenchwoman Celine Boutier, won the 2023 Evian Championship before her home crowd by six shots. In securing her first major title, she carded a final round of 3-under (68) to finish at 14-under, well clear of Brooke Henderson (-8), Yuka Saso and Nasa Hataoka (both at -7). Boutier is the first Frenchwoman to win the tournament, which became a major in 2013. She dominated the event, going into the final day with a 4-shot lead and never looked at risk, despite a stacked leaderboard which included Henderson, Saso, Hataoka, Minjee Lee and Nelly Korda. Unfortunately for the Aussie, Minjee blew out on Sunday with a round of 75 to finish T13.

The tournament had some controversy when Spaniard Carlota Ciganta was DQ’d for signing an incorrect scorecard. According to SI Golf, Ciganta failed to add a 2-stroke penalty for slow play to her score, signed the card and left the scoring area. Her group had been warned earlier in the round for being out of position, and her stroke times on the 9th hole (her 18th) were deemed by rules officials to be in breach of the LPGA’s pace of play policy. Ciganta disagreed and appealed, but to no avail with the disqualification being enforced. Ciganta, who has been booked before for slow play, took to Instagram in response (which has since been removed) stating that the rules officials don’t understand what professional tournament golf is about. At The Shank Show, we have very little tolerance for slow play - we’ve all been there before on the course stuck behind inconsiderate golfers who are taking far too long to play their shots and unnecessarily holding up players behind. Slow play is a cancer and needs to be addressed at all levels of golf whether it be professional tournament play or social play at your home course. Good on the LPGA officials for having the guts to impose the penalty.

Bubble Boys

Changes by the PGAT to the FedEx Cup Playoffs have made the final events of the regular season far more interesting and meaningful. Previously, the Top 125 ranked players on the FedEx Cup qualified for the Playoffs. This year, only the Top 70 will qualify, which means a lot more big names (think Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Shane Lowry, Billy Horschel) have committed to play at least one of the final two regular season events. These boys are on the bubble and need good performances in order to progress to the Playoffs.

We’ve talked above about Thomas’ recent struggles. He’s currently ranked 79th and has been searching for form. This has included a putter change and ramping up his practice schedule. He will be paired in the first round of the Wyndham this week with fellow Bubble Boy Adam Scott who is ranked 81st and lost in a playoff at this tournament in 2021. Scotty will need a high finish to earn his way to Memphis and into next year’s designated events (where the big $$$ are up for grabs).

The likes of Shane Lowry, Aussie Cam Davis and Hideki Matsuyama current sit inside the Top 70, but certainly not safe from relegation if they perform poorly this weekend. Without the Top 70 change by the PGAT, both the 3M Open and the Wyndham Championship would hold far less significance and interest. It would seem one of the few good moves by the PGAT in recent times.

Schedule for the Week

Your golfing schedule for the week, and how to watch is below:

• PGAT: The Wyndham Championship- Sedgefield Country Club (North Carolina), $7.6m purse, Friday 4/8 to Monday 7/8 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 4am Friday.

• LIV Golf: The Greenbrier - The Old White Course at The Greenbrier (West Virginia), $25m purse, Saturday 5/8 to Monday 7/8 - Coverage on 7+ (download the App and stream to your TV), starts 4am Saturday.

• USLPGA: The Scottish Open - Dundonald Links (Scotland), $2.0m purse, Thursday 3/8 to Sunday 6/8 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 11pm Thursday.

LIV Golf returns this weekend after a 4-week break. The Old White course at The Greenbrier is renowned for being in immaculate condition with super slick greens. It’s previously been ranked 34th on Golf Digest’s Top 100 course list and should provide a solid venue for the likes of DJ, Bryson, Phil and Cam Smith to fight it out for the massive prize purse. There have also been good signs for the Aussie team, Ripper GC, having secured a podium finish at the last event in London and narrowly missing out on winning the Team format after a fast finish from The 4 Aces.

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We’ll be back next week with a recap of the weekend’s golf and also a preview of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. As always, here is our “Shank of the Week” - Sahith Theegala with some tips on hitting the perfect shank!