On the final hole of the BMW PGA Championship, Manuel Elvira was tied for the lead with J.J. Spaun when he opted to send his second shot short of a creek crossing the fairway. But Elvira pulled the ball into a fairway bunker, made double bogey and fell out of contention. How did Elvira miss such a meaningless shot? Probably because it was meaningless. Research around “quiet eye” visualization says we benefit from locking in on a specific target because vague targets lead to imprecise motor patterns. In other words, the less direction our brains give our bodies, the sloppier the result.

when the championship begins this coming weekend on the Lido course at Sand Valley in Wisconsin. The 35-year-old is among the favorites once again after claiming victory at another one of mid-amateur golf’s top events: the Crump Cup at Pine Valley. Hagestad won the title for the second time on Sunday, defeating Andrew Price, 3 and 2, to become a rare multiple winner. As the USGA wrestles with the thorny issue of amateur reinstatement, the fact Hagestad never turned pro and has had the success he has (six Walker Cup appearances) is impressive. Yes, it’s not like he’s a blue-collar worker sneaking golf in on the weekends—which he acknowledged to Golf Digest a few years back—but his longevity without having played the game for a living is duly impressive.

The first tee at the Ryder Cup always gets a lot of attention, but don't forget about the Presidents Cup. And who can forget when three former U.S. Presidents were on No. 1 at Liberty National in 2017? While we're not sure who will be in attendance yet at this week's edition at Medinah, we do know a LOT of people will see those opening tee shots on Thursday. Here's a look at the cool setup from (way) above, courtesy of Golf Channel's Todd Lewis:

when the U.S. Presidents Cup captain called to tell him he would NOT be wearing the red, white and blue next week at Medinah. Spaun had just landed in Phoenix and said the convo lasted about 45 seconds. “Just said I wasn’t on the team and said I was the ‘odd man out’ and I wished him luck and that was it.” Spaun was then asked if Snedeker specifically used the term “odd man out.” Said Spaun: “He did. You can quote me on that.” Ouch! You can read more about it here in Evin Priest’s piece from Wentworth.

J.T. Poston started the final round of the Biltmore Championship tied for 31st place and slowly started to plod his way up the leaderboard. He made five birdies on his first nine holes (the back nine at the Cliffs at Walnut Cove), then an eagle on the third hole (his 12th) got him to seven under on the par-71 layout. He then birdied four straight, giving him a chance at 59 with a birdie on the final hole. Poston, who grew up an hour from Asheville and played college golf at Western Carolina, hit his approach to 26 feet and the putt missed just left, leaving him to "settle" for a 60. When he finished he was tied for second place at 21 under par, one behind Jacob Bridgeman. On the PGA Tour this year, only Michael Kim has shot 59, but Poston joins a list of five others who shot 60.

He had just made an eagle on the par-5 17th hole to tie J.J. Spaun for the lead at the BMW PGA Championship. So the 30-year-old from Spain just needed par on the last to get into a playoff, or even a birdie to win his first DP World Tour title outright. Instead, he hit iron off the tee, was 254 yards back and decided to lay up, but found a bunker. Elvira then smoked his third shot well over the back of the green, chunked the chip shot into a bunker, hit out to five feet and missed that for bogey. Here is video of his older brother, Nacho, who tied for 44th, consoling Manuel after what was a tough way to end what was so nearly his crowning moment in professinoal golf. 

"Devastating that I hit the wrong shot at the right time on the lay up and left myself the toughest shot in the fairway bunker, and wasn't able to pull it off," Manuel said.