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ICYMI: Tiger talks, Rory’s confession | Seen & Heard at the Open Championship Day 1
ICYMI: Scheffler’s rust, MacIntyre’s wild celebration | Seen & Heard at the Open Championship Day 2
ICYMI: Tiger’s major letdown, Lowry battles | Seen & Heard at the Open Championship

The 54-hole mark of the 2024 Open Championship presented numerous what-ifs. Billy Horschel led the charge by a single shot, but there were a dozen players who you could argue had a legitimate chance of claiming the title.

After a brutal day of weather on Saturday, Sunday was dry, with whipping wind. Eighteen holes remained to crown the champion.

GOLF’s Sean Zak was bullish on Xander Schauffele’s chances from the beginning.

“You play links golf, it’s all about controlling a golf ball. It’s an underrated skill,” he said. “I think Xander’s gonna pip ’em today.”

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Zak’s prediction played out, and Xander Schauffele was crowned Champion Golfer of the year by two shots — earning his second major championship title and leaving his chasers, like Shane Lowry and Justin Rose, disappointed but proud of their efforts.

As for Schauffele, he was content to bask in the afterglow of the win.

“It really is one of the coolest feelings I’ve ever had in my life,” he said. “I got chills walking down [18].

“I’m just curious to see what my dad’s gonna pick as a first drink to drink out of this.”

GOLFs’ James Colgan caught up with Schauffele’s father, Stefan, after the round, and he issued a stunning prediction.

“He said, of all the golfers alive right now, Xander is the closest to completing the career grand slam,” Colgan said. “And then he looked at me after he said that, with a smile, and said, ‘How about that?'”

How about that, indeed.

Schauffele and his peers have a long wait for the next major test at the Masters in 2025. Before that, we have the Olympics, the FedEx Cup and the Presidents Cup to enjoy. But for those of us intrigued by Stefan Schauffele’s prediction, the countdown to Augusta starts … now.

To watch a video of the GOLF’s team full Sunday experience at the Open, check out the video above. You can also view the “Seen & Heard” series in its entirety on YouTube here.

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ICYMI: Tiger talks, Rory’s confession | Seen & Heard at the Open Championship Day 1
ICYMI: Scheffler’s rust, MacIntyre’s wild celebration | Seen & Heard at the Open Championship Day 2

If you’ve watched any coverage of the Open Championship this week, you’ve most certainly seen the Scotrail line that runs along the 11th hole at Royal Troon. That railway is exactly how our GOLF team of Sean Zak and James Colgan arrive to the Open each day.

“This is how you need to arrive at a major championship,” Zak said. “Among the people.”

Friday at the Open means cut day, and once again, Tiger Woods is heading home early at a major, his third straight missed cut. Colgan noted that Woods doesn’t look like he’s anywhere near contending again, but he doesn’t want to stop either.

“I loved it. I’ve always loved playing major championships,” Woods said. “I just wish I was more physically sharp coming into the majors. Obviously it tests you mentally, physically, and emotionally. And I just wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be and I was hoping I would find it somehow, I just never did. Consequently, my results and scores were really high.”

Woods did commit to playing next year’s Open at Royal Portrush.

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As the 15-time major winner exited stage left, the winds began picking up at Troon, proving that those who played in the late-early wave for the opening rounds got the better side of the draw.

Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champ, was among that group in the late-early wave — and he took advantage with an opening 36 holes of seven under to take the lead at the midway point. Two shots back is his Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose, who had to qualify for this Open.

Zak wondered which of the two players is having a more unsustainable week: Can Lowry keep up his insane putting? Or can Rose keep up his consistency?

“I put myself there in a few big tournaments, and I’ve managed to knock them off,” Lowry said when asked if he was a good front-runner. “So I’ve done it a few times. I don’t know. It’s hard to win tournaments. We’ll see. I’ll tell you Sunday evening.”

You can check out the GOLF’s team full Friday experience at the Open in the video above, or check it out on YouTube here.

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ICYMI: Tiger talks, Rory’s confession | Seen & Heard at the Open Championship Day 1

The first round of the Open Championship is finally upon us. For us golf fans, that’s cause for celebration. For one competitor this week at Royal Troon, though, the celebration has been ongoing since Sunday afternoon.

“When you get moments like that, that’s a childhood dream and a lifetime goal, and you’ve got family and friends that have backed you since you were a young kid, I think it was quite right to go absolutely wild,” Robert MacIntrye said of his celebration in the aftermath of his Scottish Open win over the weekend. “I think we’ve done a good job of that.”

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Will the hangover last into this week? That remains to be seen. But after a win like the one MacIntyre produced, there’s nothing wrong with a little over-the-top celebration.

For others in the field this week, they’re hoping to replicate the MacIntyre’s celebration at the conclusion of this week. Among those hopefuls is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who’s looking to become the first player since Brooks Koepka in 2018 to claim multiple majors in a single season. If Scheffler is going to lift the Claret Jug by week’s end, he’ll have to find his form while shaking off a little rust.

“It’s the age old question in pro golf: rest vs. rust,” said GOLF.com editor James Colgan. “Scheffler has been playing on both ends of that this year. He famously showed up at the U.S. Open and had his worst start in 600 days, and afterwards said a big part of that was feeling a bit of fatigue from his starts earlier in the season.

“Now he’s here at the Open Championship having not really played in any tournaments over the past few weeks. He skipped the Scottish Open last week and now he’s facing a very different style of golf. A very unique style of golf. Particularly a very unique style of putting than he’s used to. It’s going to be an intersting thing to watch this week.”

You can check out the GOLF’s team full Wednesday experience at the Open in the video above, or check it out on YouTube here.

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The final major championship is finally upon us. This week, the best golfers in the world will take on Royal Troon for their last chance at glory as they vie for the Open Championship title.

As always, Tiger Woods is a huge story heading into this major week. Golf fans have not seen the Big Cat since he missed the cut at the U.S. Open last month, but he’s kept himself plenty busy in the interim — and that busy schedule played a role in him turning down the 2025 Ryder Cup captaincy.

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“The decision was very difficult for me to make,” Woods told the media during his pre-championship presser. “My time has been so loaded with the Tour and everything we’re trying to accomplish. I’m on so many different sub-committees that it just takes so much time in the day. I’m always on calls and I told Seth [Waugh] I didn’t feel like I could do the job properly.”

Among the other highly anticipated arrivals for the final major of the season was Rory McIlroy. Just a few weeks ago at Pinehurst, he let yet another major title slip through his fingers — and did so in dramatic fashion.

In the aftermath of the loss, McIlroy received plenty of condolence messages. So many, in fact, that the four-time major champ changed his number, leading to him accidentally ghosting a text from Woods.

“I didn’t get [the text] until he told me about it today,” McIlroy said. “So I blanked Tiger Woods, which was probably not a great thing.”

You can check out the GOLF’s team full early-week experience at the Open in the video above, or check it out on YouTube here.

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ICYMI: Ryder Cup drama reaches Scotland | Seen & Heard at the Genesis Scottish Open Day 1
Rory McIlroy returns | Seen & Heard at the Genesis Scottish Open Day 2
Collin Morikawa’s lefty shot | Seen & Heard at the Genesis Scottish Open Day 3

Early in the week at the Genesis Scottish Open, Robert MacIntyre made a candid admission.

“I’m a Scottish person,” MacIntyre said. “And the Scottish Open is the one that I want to win. The Players [Championship], I’ll take it. But the Scottish Open is the one at the end of my career that I want to have.”

Sunday afternoon at the Renaissance Club, that dream came to fruition — and MacIntyre delivered the win in epic fashion. With a 3-3-3 finish over the final three holes, MacIntyre hunted down Adam Scott and clipped the Aussie by a shot to claim the title he wanted most of all.

The crew from GOLF.com was there for every second of it, as you can see in the video at the top of the page.

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“Golf is just the freakin’ best sometimes,” said GOLF.com news and features editor James Colgan. “Truly it is just the best. That moment is just something that I hope stays with me forever. In the heart of Scotland, seeing a Scottish golfer pour in a 20-footer on the last hole to win the tournament. You could not dream of a better ending to this golf tournament. You could not dream of a better ending to this week. The entire thing, it was incredible.”

The scene was a sight to behold through the television screen — but as James explains, it was even better in person.

“I don’t know how you could top this sport or that moment,” James said.

Check out the GOLF’s team full experience from Sunday at the Genesis Scottish open in the video above, or check it out on YouTube here.

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In tournament second rounds, where half of the event still remains, you have to focus on the “nitty gritty,” GOLF.com senior writer Sean Zak says. “Kind of nonsensical golf before the important stuff happens.”

Which led him and reporters to talk to Colin Morikawa after his play Friday at the Genesis Scottish Open — because Morikawa, with his ball up against the lip of a bunker at the Renaissance Club, had hit left-handed. 

And Morikawa is a righty. 

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But there was more. Morikawa, it was discovered, had been giving the southpaw approach a go for a while. TaylorMade, his club sponsor, had even given him a lefty 8-iron. Morikawa had been curious. 

“Everyone always talks about how much we swing one way,” he said to reporters. “I mean, literally, we all swing right-handed, or whatever way you swing. I was like, if I spend five minutes a day when I’m at home swinging left-handed, it can’t hurt. I’m not trying to be the best at it. I’m just trying to make contact. I’ve seen some decent ones. I’m not awful. I’m bad, but … ” 

Asked Zak: “What have you learned about what it takes to do that?”

Answered Morikawa: “It’s complete motor skills. It’s just the complete opposite of what you think of. For me, it comes so natural to hit right-handed, obviously. And when you switch the other way, I have no idea where the clubface is. I don’t know what kind of swing I’m trying to produce. Honestly, I don’t think I bow [my wrist] at all, which is really weird. I don’t know if I should, or shouldn’t. But it’s just nice to get the body out of the way. Did it help on the shot? Maybe five percent.”

James Colgan, a news and features writer for GOLF.com was impressed. 

“As a lefty,” he said. “I can appreciate that. As someone who’s also frequently ignored advice to do things for five minutes a day to improve my overall life, I also appreciate that.”

But this story is perhaps burying the lead:  

The end of the latest installment of GOLF’s “Seen & Heard” is maybe the best. If you like pure joy, you’ll love this. You can watch the entire video by clicking here, or by scrolling to the top of this article. 

And to catch up on all of the GOLF team’s activities in Scotland, check out the full playlist below — and stay tuned for more “Seen & Heard” throughout the week.

July 9: Tiger’s out! Keegan’s in! Ryder Cup drama reaches Scotland 

July 10: Rory finally responds to Pinehurst heartbreak, Bobby Mac comes home

July 12: Collin’s bizarre swing choice, stars surge in Scotland

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ICYMI: Ryder Cup drama reaches Scotland | Seen & Heard at the Genesis Scottish Open Day 1

After all the drama of Monday’s Ryder Cup announcement, on Wednesday the golf world’s attention turned to the Renaissance Club, where Rory McIlroy is not only the defending champion but he’s also making his first appearance since the U.S. Open.

McIlroy had the lead on the back nine Sunday at Pinehurst only to bogey three out of the final four holes to lose by one to Bryson DeChambeau.

“I think the way I’ve described Pinehurst on Sunday was like it was a great day until it wasn’t,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy took heat for not meeting with the press after his debacle down the stretch. He said Wednesday the media was the least of his concern at the time, but Sean Zak was blown away by how much he was willing to share, three weeks later.

“Today, he had one question and then just talked for, like, three minutes,” Zak said. “Just rattling off every thought that would come from that week.”

McIlroy also addressed criticism of his caddie, Harry Diamond, in the wake of his collapse. Both golf instructor Hank Haney and NBC broadcaster Smylie Kaufman said Diamond could have been more vocal down the stretch at Pinehurst.

“Hank Haney has never been in that position. Smylie has been in that position once,” McIlroy said. “I love Smylie, and he was out there with us on 18, but just because Harry is not as vocal or loud with his words as other caddies, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t say anything and that he doesn’t do anything. I just wish that, you know, these guys that criticize when things don’t go my way, they never say anything good when things do go my way.”

Someone else who has been vocal about the hard times of professional golf is last year’s runner-up to McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre.

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MacIntyre is playing his first season on the PGA Tour this year and has been open about his struggles adjusting to life in Florida.

But this week is homecoming for the Scot, who hails from Oban.

”When I go back to Oban, I get treated as Bob, one of the boys, not Robert MacIntyre, the golfer,” MacIntyre said. “I think that’s the way it should be. I think people sometimes get put too much on a pedestal.”

Zak and James Colgan then went exploring the town of Gullane, where they found an old-fashioned hickory golf club shop at which the owner explained to Zak the allure of playing hickory clubs.

To catch up on all the GOLF team’s activities in Scotland, check out the full playlist above — and stay tuned for more Seen & Heard throughout the week.

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Genesis Scottish Open week started out with a real bang with the bombshell news on Monday that Keegan Bradley would lead the U.S. Ryder Cup team as captain for the 2025 matches.

That announcement was making waves more than 3,000 miles away at The Renaissance Club, site of this week’s event where our Sean Zak was eager to get players’ takes on the selection. Zak called it a “shocking” announcement.

The first player to give his thoughts was PGA champ Xander Schauffele.

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“On the course, he’s intense,” Schauffele said. That’s just how he competes and how he is. I’m sure as a captain he’s going to have sort of a mixed bag. He won’t be afraid and will get everyone going. I don’t know if he’s coached or captained any other teams in his life, whether it’s his kids’ teams or something like that, but when someone is really passionate about something, they usually do really well.”

Given that Bradley is still very much in form, as the 19th-ranked player in the world and having been snubbed from the U.S. team for Rome a year ago, Zak wondered if Schauffele and other players were thinking about the potential for Bradley to be a playing captain.

Schauffele couldn’t recall when that had last happened.

“Yesterday, when I found out, I thought this is going to be so much fun. This is going to be chaotic,” Zak said. “And now I woke up today thinking this could be bad. It could be the craziest Ryder Cup of all time.”

On the course, we joined James Colgan who, straight off a flight, played The Renaissance Club in the Tuesday pro-am with PGA Tour pro Matt Wallace and DP World Tour member Todd Clements.

His caddie? GOLF multimedia wiz Darren Riehl. (Although Colgan, Riehl and their team finished dead last in the pro-am.)

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It was a baptism by fire to links golf for Colgan, but Zak and Riehl got their rounds in at a different style of UK layout: The Bruntsfield Short Hole Course, where the greens fees were free!

Clad in hoodies and shorts, our team enjoyed the pitch and putt course before heading to a nearby tavern for Riehl to enjoy his first ever Tennents Lager, a Scottish delicacy.

Before calling it a day, Zak headed back to North Berwick and walked up the 18th hole of the namesake club’s West Links, one of his favorite places on earth, he said.

To catch up on all the GOLF team’s activities in Scotland, check out the full playlist below — and stay tuned for more Seen & Heard throughout the week.

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ICYMI: Tiger’s new coach, ‘borderline’ greens | Seen and Heard at Pinehurst
ICYMI: ‘The world’s hardest patience test’ | Seen and Heard at Pinehurst
ICYMI: Tiger’s last U.S. Open? Diabolical conditions | Seen and Heard at Pinehurst

How does one put into words what it was like to witness the final holes of the 2024 U.S. Open on Sunday? GOLF’s James Colgan had a few.

“I cannot believe what I just saw,” he marveled. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had so much fun at a golf tournament in my entire life. That was legitimately the craziest ending to a golf tournament. I feel a sense of gratitude that I just witnessed that with my own two eyes.”

Golf fans already know the “that” Colgan is referring to: Rory McIlroy’s shocking short misses and Bryson DeChambeau’s heroic 55-yard up-and-down from the bunker to win the U.S. Open by one.

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Anyone who plays golf knows the game delivers agony and ecstasy, oftentimes in unequal measure. For McIlroy, it was a brutal defeat and yet another close call. For DeChambeau, it felt like destiny. On the 25th anniversary of Payne Stewart’s stirring victory at Pinehurst, DeChambeau followed in the footsteps of his boyhood idol, putting on a show for the ages, and the fans embraced him.

“I’m just passionate,” DeChambeau said in the aftermath of his win. “I really care about doing well out here and showing the fans a side of me that was locked up for so long.”

What a week, what a champion. The year’s final major, the Open Championship, can’t come soon enough.

To catch up on all the GOLF team’s activities at Pinehurst, check out the video above, and watch the full Seen & Heard playlist below.

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ICYMI: Tiger’s new coach, ‘borderline’ greens | Seen and Heard at Pinehurst
ICYMI: ‘The world’s hardest patience test’ | Seen and Heard at Pinehurst

We have hit the halfway mark at the U.S. Open where some of the game’s best have risen to the top of the leaderboard, while others are going home early.

While all three of them made the cut, much of the drama Friday morning surrounded the U.S. Open’s “Super group” of the top-three players in the world, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler.

All three ran into trouble on the Par-5 5th during Round 2, the easiest hole. Scheffler and Schauffele tried to hit miracle flop shots and failed, leading to double bogeys. McIlroy, from a similar position hit a low running shot and made a nine-footer for par. Our James Colgan called the chip a “most fascinating shot.”

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“That back left hole location on 5 is pretty treacherous,” said McIlroy, whose 72 left him at three under, two off the lead. “If you miss it left there at all, obviously you saw what Xander and Scottie did. After sealing their two attempts, I was pretty happy with mine just to get it over the other side of the green and get it up-and-down for 5.”

Elsewhere, Josh Berhow was following Tyrell Hatton, who on Thursday, went viral for some of his comments about his mindset in the U.S. Open.

After finsihing the opening two rounds at one under, good for a tie for ninth, Berhow asked Hatton for his take on why the comment went so viral.

“I think everyone knows me well enough by now to know what I’m like on the golf course, that I’m pretty honest,” Hatton said. “I’ll just say it how it is.”

Deep in the “bowels of the Pinehurst clubhouse” Alan Bastable sought out the man who caused quite a stir on social media Thursday: Anthony Montanez . He’s better known resident U.S. Open barber this week and the guy who gave Scheffler his fresh cut before Round 1.

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“The funny part about it is, everyone keeps calling it the ‘high and tight,’ which as barbers makes us crack up because it’s only a 3 on the sides,” Montanez said. “It’s nowhere near a ‘high and tight.’ Just the tapered back makes it look like that.”

In case there was any debate, Montanez felt good about the cut.

“We delivered,” he said.

Back in the media center, Sean Zak asked Bryson DeChambeau, who fired a 69 Friday to get within a shot of the lead at four under, how he felt about the fans seemingly rooting for players to struggle at U.S. Opens.

“I just saw when we were on 10, Sepp Straka made a hole-in-one, right? Right behind us,” DeChambeau said. “That was a high, super high, and it was really cool to feed off that energy. Then I see guys ping-ponging it around the greens out here, and it’s like, I don’t want to watch that.

“So for the fans it’s great. It’s super entertaining. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of it, albeit it’s going to happen a few times out here.”

But Friday is also about who won’t be around for the weekend and that includes the biggest name in the field: Tiger Woods.

Woods started Round 2 strong, with a birdie on the 4th to climb two shots inside the cutline, but he stumbled home to a 73 and missed the cut by two shots.

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Then he admitted he wasn’t sure if this week was his last U.S. Open.

“As far as my last Open Championship or U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that is,” the 48-year-old three-time U.S. Open winner said. “It may or may not be.”

But the 36-hole leader this week is Ludvig Aberg. Aberg has looked like anything but a player making his U.S. Open debut this week, but he has played Pinehurst No. 2 before, in a U.S. Amateur. He called it the most challenging course he’s ever played.

And it’s only getting harder as Sean Zak points out, the course is becoming completely baked out from sunshine. Green speeds are running north of 13 on the stimpmeter already.

The weekend at the 2024 U.S. Open is upon us

To catch up on all the GOLF team’s activities at Pinehurst, check out the full Seen & Heard playlist below — and stay tuned for more Seen & Heard throughout the week.

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