Bryson shoots 58 and Glover wins the Wyndham

Bryson DeChambeau won the LIV Golf Greenbrier title by shooting an historic 58 in the final round. The 29-year-old American had 13 birdies against a lone bogey to finish 23-under for the 54-hole event in West Virginia. DeChambeau became the fourth player on a top-level Tour to shoot 58, making birdie on his last four holes to capture his first LIV Golf title and $4m USD in the process. He won by six shots over Mito Pereira, whilst the Aussie trio of Cam Smith, Mark Leishman and Matt Jones all finished a long way back in T32 (-6). In the team competition, Torque GC (Joaquin Niemann, Sebastian Munoz, Mito Pereira and David Puig) set a record score at 49 under to claim victory over Crushers GC and Stinger GC (this Saffer team has been playing some great team golf lately and will be a real show for the Team finale in Miami). The Aussie team, Ripper GC finished a disappointing second last on -20. You’d have to think Jed Morgan will struggle to keep his place in the LIV Golf League next year based on his LIV performances so far.

In the PGAT, Lucas Glover won the Wyndham Championship with a final round 68 at Sedgfield Country Club in Greensboro. The victory advanced Glover into the FedEx Cup Playoffs finishing at No. 49 in the overall ranking. Glover’s win at the Wyndham was his fifth Tour title. After entering the week at No. 112 in the standings, the win catapulted him into the Top 70 and the field for this weekend’s FedEx St. Jude Championship as well as qualifying for all of 2024’s Signature events. Aside from Glover’s win, the big focus was on Justin Thomas and whether he would qualify for the Playoffs. It came down to the final hole where Thomas needed birdie. After his drive finished left in the trees, he beautifully carved his hook recovery shot to sit greenside for two. JT needed to jar his 3rd shot and gave it a red-hot crack with the ball almost going in on the 4th bounce, only to hit the stick and pop out to finish less than a foot from the hole.

There were also some other high-profile golfers who missed the Top 70 including Adam Scott (72nd), Shane Lowry (78th) and Billy Horschel (90th). JT’s failure to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs creates more complexity for Zac Johnson as he decides on his team for the Ryder Cup. Had JT made the Playoffs, there would have been more chances to prove he deserves a spot on the side, but now he is unlikely to play before the side is picked (unless he travels across the pond to play in some DP World Tour events). That said, JT has a close relationship with ZJ - he rooms with Zac each year at The Open Championship and last week played in the Zac Johnson Foundation Classic golf day to raise funds for ZJ’s charity. Should be an interesting few weeks as we head towards September.

Quick Bites

At The Shank Show, we’ve got you covered with some quick bites to bring you up to speed and give you a few laughs as you enjoy all things golf. Snack on these:

Return of Big Jay - Jay Monahan has returned to the PGAT after a leave of absence to deal with “health concerns”. Of course, we wish Jay nothing but the best of health, but it is hard to miss that his absence coincided with the Senate Hearings and Player anger regarding the proposed merger deal with the Saudi Arabian PIF. It’s still amazing that Jay has a job given what has transpired over the last 2+ years, but maybe it’s such a mess now that no one else wants to come in and have to fix Big Jay’s cock ups?

Tiger appointed to PGAT Policy Board - The Big Cat has been roped in to become the 6th “Player Member” of the PGAT Policy Board. This appointment now tips the balance of directorships in favour of the Players instead of the Administrators within PGAT HQ. With Tiger’s appointment also came a commitment from the Policy Board to a greater level of transparency and governance - presumably to address the significant grievances many Players have with the way that Big Jay conducted the clandestine negotiations with the Saudis on his way to landing the Framework Agreement (refer to our 2nd Issue for more details).

Golf Podcasts worth a listen - there are a ton of golf podcasts out there, but what are the ones worth listening to? Here are 3 of our favourite pods for you to give a go:

• The First Cut - regularly featuring Kyle Porter from CBS (major broadcast partner of the PGAT), this pod provides tournament previews and picks, as well as deep dives into the players and storylines that matter. It’s more on the serious side of coverage but still fresher and more enjoyable than traditional golf media.

• No Laying Up - hosted by Chris “Soly” Solomon, The No Laying Up Podcast is a fresh, funny and informative conversation on all things golf. Founded in 2014, the No Laying Up crew and their podcast seek to entertain and inform avid golfers around the world. The podcast provides tournament recaps and picks, interviews, deep dive player profiles, golf travel, and more.

• The Shotgun Start - easily the least “serious” and most fun of our 3 recommendations, the Shotgun Start with Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath of The Fried Egg will definitely give you a lot of golfing laughs. The raft of nicknames used for players (e.g. Thiic Boi, Husky Boi, The Septic Tank, The Thirst Bucket) will keep you entertained as will their takes on which country Rory Sabitini will represent next and how Jordan Speith’s game is held together with duct tape. Definitely some insider jokes to get up to speed on, but worth the effort.

Schedule for the Week

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

• PGAT: The FedEx St. Jude Championship- TPC Southwind (Memphis, TN), $20m purse, Friday 11/8 to Monday 14/8 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 4am Friday.

• USLPGA: The AIG Women’s Open - Walton Heath GC (England), $7.3m purse, Thursday 10/8 to Sunday 13/8 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 8pm Thursday.

Refer a Friend Comp

We are progressively building our little community of “Shankers” and getting plenty of good feedback about the newsletter. We are keen to keep up the momentum, so next week we will be launching our “Refer a Friend” comp where there will be a great prize up for grabs for the Shanker who refers the most subscribers in a week. More details to come in next week’s issue.

In the meantime, here is our “Shank of the Week” - FedEx Cup points leader and World #2 Jon Rahm with a ripping shank!