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Charley Hull’s (forced) cig break, Nelly Korda’s SI Swimsuit nod and Bryson DeChambeau’s big-man-on-campus move – Australian Golf Digest

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  • November 5, 2024
Charley Hull’s (forced) cig break, Nelly Korda’s SI Swimsuit nod and Bryson DeChambeau’s big-man-on-campus move – Australian Golf Digest

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we promise not to talk about the election. In fact, the only vote we’ll discuss is the one that took place in my younger daughter’s preschool class: pizza vs. ice cream. And ice cream won. And she was really happy about it. And also about getting a sticker for voting.

The ice cream lobby will be really happy as well. Anyway, who thinks we should talk about golf now? OK, the ayes have it.

WE’RE BUYING

Rio Takeda: The six-hole playoff win over Marina Alex gave her a maiden LPGA Tour title, but that doesn’t nearly tell the story of this precocious Japanese star. The 21-year-old Takeda had already won on the LPGA of Japan SEVEN times in 2024. So the winning, especially in her home country at the Toto Japan Classic, is becoming old hat:

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Yoshimasa Nakano

Watch out, LPGA. We could see a Takeda takeover in 2025.

Charley Hull: And we’re also buying the power of positive thinking. On the eve of the LET’s Aramco Team Series event, Hull said, “I feel like a win is just around the corner.” Three days later, she ended a two-year winless drought. Talk about manifesting something.

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Tristan Jones

And, because of Saudi Arabia’s strict smoking laws, she hoisted the trophy without lifting a single cigarette to her mouth! Go Charley! For once we were inundated with videos of her hitting darts instead of smoking them. So Charley—and the kids—won. You love to see it. Or, not see it in this case.

This golf basement: What a spectacular layout here with a putting green and simulator room:

And I love the “Maintenance Shed”-labeled bathroom. Although, if I’m nitpicking, I could do without the gym down there. That’s just taking up valuable real estate. Kidding. Sort of.

WE’RE SELLING

Losing like this: Look away, if you’re struggling with short putts yourself. Regardless, this is tough to watch:

However, kudos to Kristoffer Reitan. Not only for winning his first Challenge Tour event when he needed it most, but to have the wherewithal to tell his significant other to not celebrate an opponent’s miss. That’s class.

Missing your tour card like this: Same idea here. What a valiant effort, but it wasn’t meant to be:

Golf is a cruel game.

Jalen Hurts’ contract: Don’t get me wrong, making $255 million over five years is nice and all, but the Eagles star QB couldn’t play golf with Barack Obama recently, because of a no-golf clause. Ouch. And the round was at Merion … Double ouch.

But he still followed along in a golf cart with the former President, teammate Saquon Barkley (Did Barack teach Saquon that backward hurdle?) and owner Jeffrey Lurie, the man behind the no-golf clause. Yeah, because playing golf is dangerous to your health and not doing QB sneaks over and over again near the goal line. Got it.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour returns with the World Wide Technology Championship, AKA that one that used to be called the Mayakoba, AKA that one where Matt Kuchar stiffed that local caddie one time. Also, the DP World Tour begins a final two-week stretch to determine the Race to Dubai winner with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Although there’s not much drama with Rory McIlroy having a huge lead. Yep, even Rory can’t let this one slip away. (Sorry, Rory, couldn’t resist. But, seriously, you’ve got this … right?)

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Andrew Redington

Random tournament fact: Viktor Hovland is the only two-time winner in Mayakoba, a big reason why he earned that “Resort King” nickname. He also paid his caddie well both times.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Rory McIlroy will win in Abu Dhabi: 4-1 odds (Favorite!)

—Max Greyserman will win in Mexico: 16-to-1 odds (Also the favorite!)

—A LOT of NFL QBs are laughing at that no-golf clause: LOCK

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Loved this financial breakdown from Bryan Kopsick, a PGA Tour caddie for Ben Silverman, who seems to be doing well thanks to his job and some savvy investments:

And loved his love of his job even more:

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (AMATEUR DIVISION)

This might be the biggest backfire of all time:

And just like that, that guy lost a PGA Tour caddie’s yearly salary.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (PRO DIVISION)

Bryson DeChambeau brought the U.S. Open trophy into the student section at an SMU football game:

The people’s champ, indeed.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Speaking of football, Ted Scott had some fun with Josh Allen and Keon Coleman at the Bills practice facility:

And while we’re talking about PGA Tour caddie earnings, Ted makes more money than most NFL wide receivers.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Congrats to Troy Merritt on being inducted into the Boise State Hall of Fame!

And congrats to Katherine Morikawa on running the New York Marathon!

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While we’re at it, congrats to Golf Digest’s Ben Walton and Will Irwin for accomplishing that as well. I would literally die attempting to run a marathon. That being said, I can’t resist pointing out that Kat beat them both by a significant amount of time. Better start training for next year, guys!

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (COSTUMES EDITION)

There were some great Halloween outfits this year, and we’ll highlight a few here. There was Luke Donald and his family pulling off another great group costume:

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Then there was Donald as a Chicago Cub (The guy has multiple costumes every year), Shane Lowry as Travis Kelce, and Rory McIlroy and Mario:

Sticking with trios, how about Brooks Koepka, Jena Sims and Crew nailing this “Men in Black” look?

https://www.golfdigest.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2020/05/brookskoepka_halloween24.png

And, finally, Aaron Flener and his girlfriend doing the whole Scottie Scheffler getting arrested thing:

Expected, but still very good. Well done all around!

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (BIKINIS EDITION)

Turns out, Nelly Korda has been doing some dressing up of her own in preparation for next year’s SI Swimsuit Issue:

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What a year for Korda.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I was still drunk, I was still intoxicated, but I had so much adrenaline. It was like I was floating on a cloud to be honest. It was the easiest run I’ve ever done.” —Danny Willett on going for a run at 7 a.m. the day after winning the 2016 Masters. Considering I had bet on Danny to win, I (kinda) know how he felt!

THIS AND THAT

Congrats to Bubba Watson on making a hole-in-one, but also kudos to Bubba. After making the ace, he matched the prize by buying a house for someone in need in Indonesia. … Speaking of charity, Scottie Scheffler’s old car with more than 200,000 miles is being auctioned off to raise money for Triumph Over Kid Cancer. And the great (guy) Jim Nantz bought that old clunker for $50K. Nice job, Jim. … Shout-out to Michael Zenert, who found a Naval Academy ring on a golf course and returned it to a fighter pilot who had lost it there 54(!) years before.

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Gregg Pachkowski/Pensacola News Journal

What an amazing story. … Congrats to Ozzie Smith on being named the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America’s Old Tom Morris Award winner. Yep, that Ozzie Smith. Apparently, he’s a wizard with growing the game as well. … And, finally, my love of Costco and Bluey—and, of course, my girls—convinced me to buy this for the house this Christmas:

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Just a perfect storm to get me to plunk down 150 bucks. But worth it. I think.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever lost on a golf course?

Does “Investing Caddy” have any hot stock tips?

Can we vote to bring Daylights Savings back?

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com

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