The week that was: English, Korda, Hovland, and Stricker Triumph
By: Grant Murphy
If you are a fan of golf, you will know that this past week has been one that does not happen very often. All four major professional golf tours were in action and all four surpassed the viewer's expectations. In my mind, it does not even come close. Yes, you have The Masters in April, or the Open Championship in a few weeks, but this week, the entire world saw a masterpiece of golf being played and each tour had their own stories to tell. The following is a recap of what happened and why it was so delightful to see.
On the Men's Professional Golf Tour - The Travelers Championship
Harris English won this tournament after beating Kramer Hickok with a birdie on the 8th playoff hole. Hickok, a relatively unknown, and English, a journeyman from Georgia with 3 PGA Tour wins, both finished at 13 under par for the tournament. They proceeded to par the next 7 playoff holes before English made a birdie on the 8th and final playoff hole to seal the victory. A tournament well done by Harris. However, there a few things that need to be mentioned before finishing up this recap.
1. The men that moved their way up into the top 5 of this golf tournament deserve to be in the spotlight a little bit too.
The Aussie, Marc Leishman, is one of the best ball strikers on tour and shot a final round 64 (6-under) to make his way into solo 3rd place. His talent is so immense, you would wonder why he is not in the winner's circle almost every time he tees it up. His bogey free final round was a marvel and if you do not watch him very often, make sure you go and spotlight him next time you are watching. An absolute clinic of golf.
Abraham Ancer, the tequila company owning, Oklahoma going golfer shot a beautiful final round 65 (5-under) to finish in solo 4th place. Though he had two bogeys his final round, he also had seven birdies to outshine those small mistakes. If you recall, Ancer was the player that hoped he could take on Tiger Woods in the last President's Cup. He got his wish and proceeded to lose to Tiger but showed great promise. Since then, Ancer has been a staple on a week-to-week basis on the PGA Tour and shows up in big events. Though small in stature, he can move the golf ball and plot his way around a golf course any time. His future is bright, and he is a delight to watch.
Finally, Keven Kisner. The South Carolinian PGA Tour grinder shot the best round of the day with a final round 63 (7-under) to move up 40 places to a tie for 5th place with Brooks Koepka, Hank Lebioda, Brian Harmon, and Brice Garnett. If you do not know about Kisner, you should just google him. One of the great characters out on the PGA Tour and a heck of a talent.
On the Women's Professional Golf Tour - The KPMG Women's PGA Championship
Nelly Korda captured her first LPGA Major at the Atlanta Athletic Club with a final round 68 (4-under) to finish at 19-under to beat Lizette Salas by three shots. Beside those two women, there was really no threat of anyone else coming up the leaderboard to contend with them. The next closest competitor was at 10-under par. It was actually very close until the 12th hole when Nelly eagled the 454-yard par 5 while Lizette finished with a bogey. Congrats to Nelly. She has single handedly made the LPGA Tour fun to watch and her driving distance and ball striking are off the charts. She is fun to watch and will be great to see in the Olympics in a few weeks.
On the European Tour - The BMW International Open
Viktor Hovland is here, and he is becoming one of the best players on the planet. He won the BMW International Open by shooting a final round 70 (2-under) and finished with a total of 19-under par to hold off a charging Martin Kaymer. Kaymer shot a blistering 8-under par to move up 9 places to get into second place. However, Hovland never looked to be under any pressure as he worked his way around the golf course. Like I said earlier, he is becoming one of the emerging stars on the world stage. He exudes confidence and is has a smile that will light up any room he goes into. He is aggressive and fun to watch during any tournament.
On the Champion's Tour - The Bridgestone Senior Players Championship
All I can say is that Steve Stricker is the man. Not only is he going to be the Ryder Cup Captain at Whistling Straits at the end of this year, but he is showing everyone that he is a heck of a talent and still has another gear he can get too. Especially on the Champion's Tour. He can reach levels that some of the other players cannot. He is a talent that should be appreciated, and it is even better that he comes from the Midwest. He truly shows that you can play golf from anywhere and succeed. Good luck to him in the future.
There you have it. I hope everyone truly appreciated what this week in golf brought to us and the world. It is not often that every major professional golf tour has brought great and interesting golf to the viewers. We all need to truly appreciate what this week was. It was not just one tournament, but the week truly showcased how good these players are and what they can do with a golf ball. I can only hope that the upcoming weeks produces such great golf but, in the end, we can all appreciate it for what it was. Delightful.