IF there is one thing all golfing hackers and duffers have in common with the superstars of the game it’s that we can all agree what an utterly bamboozling way to fill your time this sport is.
Consider a fellow like Lucas Glover. His best golf was revealed as far back as 2009 when he won the US Open but thereafter his finest efforts were always stymied by a dodgy putting stroke. While not quite Superman from tee-to-green, he has always been a very fine ball-striker, but on the greens the poor man resembled the bumbling Clark Kent.
In July, he took a chance on a broom-stick putter and he must be wondering what the hell took him so long. He immediately knocked off a trio of top six finishes in mid-summer and, in the last fortnight, has claimed back-to-back victories in the Wyndham and St Jude Championships.
Incredibly, he’s gone from being on the brink of chewing his own fist to the bone to selection for the Ryder Cup and his relief in the aftermath of last Sunday’s triumph was apparent to all.
“If you’d have told me this three months ago, I’d have said you were crazy,” he admitted. “But at the same time, if you asked me legitimately did I think I was capable, I’d have said yes, even then. It’s just one of those sad ways athletes are wired. We always believe in ourselves no matter how bad it is.
“I never gave up, but in the middle of May it was hard to go to the range some days and hard to work. You know, for 10 years up until this run, I’ve underachieved. I knew it and it was all because of the putting.
“But I believed in myself. I was hard-headed and stubborn enough to not give up.”
Heading into this week’s BMW Championship there are only 50 golfers in the field and only the top 30 in the FedEx Cup rankings will progress to next week’s finale, the Tour Championship. Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy continue to fill the top three spots but Glover has jumped into fourth place ahead of Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa. Those rankings are a key sub-plot this week because the Tour Championship, remember, uses starting strokes – these next two weeks really are linked and related.
The tournament returns to the North Course at Olympia Fields in Illinois which is a par-70 set at 7,366 yards. It played host to the 2003 US Open won by Jim Furyk and also to this event in 2020, a week that ended in memorable fashion when Jon Rahm defeated Dustin Johnson with two sensational putts, one in regulation play and another in the play-off. In-between, Bryson DeChambeau won the US Amateur Championship there.
Each Way – Xander Schauffele
When Furyk won the US Open at Olympia Fields he was one of only four players who broke par and, before conditions eased in the final round, the BMW Championship held here three years ago was another brutal test. We can expect more of the same this week so US Open specialists ought to feel at home: golfers who aren’t frightened by narrow fairways, lush rough and hard greens; ones who will dig deep rather than shirk the challenge.
That immediately thrusts the name of Schauffele to the fore, a man who has landed six top 10s in just seven starts in his national championship. At first glance, his form isn’t quite what it was earlier this year but he began to look like his old self last week. In fact, he’s never been a fan of TPC Southwind and his T24th was his second-best effort in six visits. He opened with a bright 66 and registered his best approach stats in four months (and comfortably his best ever on the course).
Each Way – Keegan Bradley
This has been a fine season for the 2011 PGA Championship winner Bradley who won the ZOZO Championship in October and added the Travelers Championship in June. The last of those came TPC River Highlands, another par-70 with bent grass greens but a much shorter one. However, in his past, he regularly displayed a fondness for Firestone Country Club and it’s par-70 at 7,400 yards. That track also tested the long game so it could be an excellent guide – and he also won this tournament at Aronimink, another bent grass par-70 at 7,267 yards so only a little shorter than this week’s test. His season might not be done.
First Round Leader Each Way – Russell Henley
Take a chance on recent winner Russell Henley maintaining his fondness for a fast start in August. He carded a Thursday 62 on his way to opening this month with victory at the Wyndham Championship and backed it up with sixth place last week. In all, he has four first round leads (three solo, one shared) in 34 starts in August on three different courses. He’s also peppered his second, third and fourth rounds with super-low scores on many different courses, including when he was the second low scorer in the second round at Olympia Fields in 2020.
