An all-time Solheim Cup dagger, an extra-consequential Shane Lowry win and the coldest quote of the year

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we are not going to overreact to Week 1 of the NFL. That would just be silly. Come on. That being said, though . . . are the New York Giants going to win the Super Bowl?! What a performance! They are so back! And thanks to the Knicks, I now think all my teams are going to win. In the meantime, there’s also one team/continent in golf that just keeps winning. Let’s get to that and more. Hut, hut, hike!

WE’RE BUYING

Team Europe: And just like that, Europe is in possession of the Ryder Cup, Walker Cup and Solheim Cup for the first time since 2004. The latest Europe triumph came in the Netherlands at the Solheim Cup, where Anna Nordqvist’s squad beat the Americans 15-13 thanks to a spirited Sunday singles session.

The craziest part is Charley Hull and Lottie Woad, arguably Europe’s two biggest stars, each went 1-3-1 during the week. And Celine Boutier went 0-4. But Linn Grant’s 4-0 week led the way and Hull and Woad came through in Sunday singles along with Solheim Cup sparkplug Carlota Ciganda, who after delivered an all-time cold quote:

Wow. At least the U.S. still holds the Celebrity Ryder Cup (Thanks in part to Giants legend Eli Manning). For now.

Shane Lowry: No one dominated more than this Irishman, who won his native Open by an insane 11 shots. That’s a touchdown, a two-point conversion and a field goal for those keeping score at home. Light work for Jaxson Dart, but an incredible margin of victory for a golfer.

Crazy enough, Lowry hadn't had a top-20 finish since March, but he looked like the best player on the planet for four days at Doonbeg. Also crazy enough, but it was the first time he's won this event since he was an amateur 17 years ago. Luckily for him, he was able to keep the first-place prize this time. And the victory had other—and much more major—economic ramifications as well. More on that in a bit!

Walk-off holes-in-one: Look, any hole-in-one is great. Not to brag, but I know from experience. However, Finn Koelle managed to get his ace while doing it in a college tournament, the Sahalee Players Championship. On the final hole.

That’s a walk-off hole-in-one. My ace also went viral (NBD) and came at a golf course that hosted a major, but it wasn’t in competition and it wasn’t from 214 yards and it wasn’t to WIN a freaking tournament. Amazing stuff, Finn.

WE’RE SELLING

Team USA: It’s been a rough go for Americans in international golf competitions and this time it was the women’s turn. First, props to Alison Lee, the “Team Mom” for going 4-0 including a historic singles comeback. And there were other bright spots like Lindy Duncan stepping up out of seemingly nowhere to go 3-1, and World No. 1 Nelly Korda playing like a World No. 1 and going 2-1-1. But, obviously, it wasn’t enough.

And, I’m sorry, but Angel Yin, who has been battling a stomach issue for months, shouldn’t have played. Captain Angela Stanford even had a backup on site, but stuck with Yin, who got a halve in her one team match, but got dusted in singles. Stanford also didn’t come across great with her comments after about how slow the greens were (“Apparently, I didn't get to know the superintendent as well as I should have.”) and how her stats team let her down. Talk about driving the (team) bus over someone. But that wasn’t her biggest strategic error . . .

Premature celebratory beers: Even in the moment, this was pretty wild to see. And I’ve read it was more of a treat for the team’s hard-working caddies, but still, the optics of a captain bringing a basket of beers onto the team bus when the event is tied going into the final day (cue Kobe Bryant saying, “Job’s not finished”!) were not good. And provided the ultimate bulletin-board material to Team Europe. I get that everyone was excited after Jennifer Kupcho’s miracle 90-foot putt that helped swing the matches back in your favor, but doing this—and having it shared on social media was a tough look:

And boy, did Europe pounce on it. After winning the following day, the Europeans chanted, “They drink on Saturday, we drink on Sunday!” on their team bus:

Just an all-time “scoreboard” moment. And an all-time (deserved) dagger.

Imposters: You see this every once in a while when someone enters a tournament they have no right playing in, whether it’s someone losing a fantasy bet or just a golf writer looking to write a story. But this situation from the Toledo Open that was spotted by Monday Q Info’s Ryan French takes that to another level:

First of all, amazing job by Vishnu to still shoot 69 despite what was going on around him. But to the dude who shot 123, that’s embarrassing. Not the 123 (although, yes, that’s also embarrassing), but the fact that you took a spot in the event.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour returns for the Fall Season, AKA that season that doesn’t officially count as part of this season, but still really counts for a lot of people trying to play next season. And this part of the schedule begins with a new event, the Biltmore Championship in Asheville. The PGA Tour Champions heads to Pebble for the PURE Insurance Championship and the Korn Ferry Tour Finals continue with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. Busy, busy, busy!

Random tournament fact: The inaugural Biltmore Championship is being played at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove (great name!) in Asheville. And . . . that’s about all I’ve got.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Someone will win the Biltmore Championship by 11 shots: 1 MILLION-to-1-odds

—Jackson Koivun will win the Biltmore Championship: 13-to-1 odds (Actual odds, favorite!)

—Team USA is suddenly feeling more pressure to win the Presidents Cup: LOCK

TWEET OF THE WEEK (AGREE DIVISION)

Nailed it, Ryan.

TWEET OF THE WEEK (DISAGREE DIVISION)

The Europeans have long leaned on the Ryder Cup to boost their career resumes, but this is a bit much!

Giving Lowry credit for two Ryder Cup wins to say he has 10 career victories? If anything, it’s kind of crazy he’s only been on two winning Ryder Cup teams considering Europe’s recent dominance!

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (OFF-COURSE DIVISION)

This one really made the rounds last week:

And if the lady involved is embarrassed and doesn’t act like this again, then Golf Twitter has improved the world.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (OFF-RANGE DIVISION)

Tiger Woods is back!

Sort of.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (ON-COURSE DIVISION)

"Holy pure." What a reaction. The only way that could have been better is if Michael Block did it. Speaking of . . .

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (MICHAEL BLOCK DIVISION)

It wasn’t the best week for our favorite senior golfer as his great run of play finally ended with a Sunday 77. However, he still provided this fantastic interview in which he talks about how he still has to deal with payroll for his first day job and that he sold the 7-iron he made his famous ace with at the 2023 PGA Championship in order to buy a pretty sweet car:

With an amazing license plate:

Well done, Michael. Although, if he keeps banking like he has been on his recent PGA Tour Champions heater, he might wish he’d held onto that club.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Ludvig Aberg was asked to grade the swings of some celebrity golfers and he did a nice job:

And now LeBron has some bulletin board material. If he's still as competitive as Europe's Solheim Cup squad, he'll be breaking 80 before you know it.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Min Woo Lee gave a sweet shout-out to his dog, Aussie:

More like Awwsie, am I right?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“He also said he's taking the tariffs off Irish whiskey, when Irish distillers better be sending me a check soon. Must be worth a few quid to them.” —Shane Lowry on President Trump handing him the trophy and then announcing he was going to lift the tariff on Irish whiskey. This has to be the first time in golf history that a tournament winner also directly changed a country’s foreign trade policy. We are truly living in the weirdest time.

THIS AND THAT

Congrats to Alvaro Ortiz for winning his second Korn Ferry Tour title by four shots to earn his first PGA Tour card for next season after a decade as a pro. He also got this cool trophy:

Can you actually play that thing? . . . Congrats to Zach Johnson on winning for a fifth time on the PGA Tour Champions this year and in clutch fashion with a walk-off birdie to beat Ben Crane. He and Stewart Cink are locked in one heckuva POY battle. . . . The PGA Tour finalized how golfers will qualify for the Championship Series and Challenger Series beginning in 2028. Hopefully, these will last longer than the Big Ten’s Leaders and Legends divisions. . . . And, finally, a bit belated, but I can’t believe my girls are in third and first grades: