Ben Griffin’s costly wedding blunder, an amazing up-and-down Down Under and a golf social media legend emerges
Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we’re still getting our heads around Indiana being the best college football team in the land. This is almost as confusing of a time as when a short-and-crooked hitting golfer was World No. 1. No offense, Luke Donald, but that was pretty incredible—especially since Luke didn’t have Curt Cignetti guiding him. That being said, Donald has turned into the Curt Cignetti of the Ryder Cup so I guess it makes more sense now. Anyway, I’m starting to ramble, so let’s get to the golf that happened this past week.
WE’RE BUYING
Hideki Matsuyama: It was a weird 2025 for the Japanese star, who started the season with a win at the Sentry but waited until Sunday to add a second (bookend) victory at the Hero World Challenge. In between, there was nothing to write home about at the majors, but if Tiger Woods ever hosts a major, watch out. Matsuyama has now accepted trophies from Tiger three times, including twice in the Bahamas:
Ben Jared
Even crazier is that both his Hero wins consisted of him holding off Swedish golfers, Henrik Stenson in 2016 and Alex Noren on Sunday. But again, nothing seems that crazy anymore with the Indiana Hoosiers being a college football juggernaut.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen: This rising Danish star earned his first DP World Tour title at the Australian Open. And he did it with one of the most difficult and clutch up-and-downs of the year:
Even Michael Block would be impressed by those hands. Neergaard-Petersen edged Cam Smith, who missed a par putt on the final hole to lose his national open. Tough finish for Cam, but it was good to see him showing some serious signs of life again. Anyway, congrats to Rasmus, who we’ll be seeing a lot more in the U.S. next year after he locked up a PGA Tour card for recently finishing ninth in the Race to Dubai standings. So he’ll become acquainted with FedEx Cup points soon.
Jaquan Ware: Major shout-out to this guy who made it a mission to get to 100K followers on Instagram back in July. Why? Because his wife gave him permission to become a full-time golf influencer if he ever did.
Well, less than five months later—and thanks in part to Barstool’s KFC giving him a big boost—Jaquan has done it:
What a legend. Congrats, Jaquan. Now, I don’t exactly know how this will pay the bills, but I’m sure you’ll figure that out. In the meantime, keep on playing golf. And let me know if you’re ever in the New York area. I’d like you to talk to my wife about the benefits of playing more golf.
WE’RE SELLING
Tiger Woods’ update: The 15-time major champ finally provided some details on his latest (potential) comeback, and it wasn’t great news. Tiger revealed he’s been cleared to chip and putt—he gave a quick, but insightful putting lesson ahead of the Hero—but that he has no timetable for a return. And if he’s not playing in the PNC Championship with Charlie, you know his body isn’t in good shape right now.
David Cannon
More and more young golf fans are getting robbed of seeing this guy play golf and that’s a shame. How good was he? Well, to steal a line from Curt Cignetti: “I [used to] win. Google me.”
Wyndham Clark’s season: It was a rough season for the 2023 U.S. Open champ, both on the course and in the locker room as we saw with his Oakmont temper tantrum. But I appreciate his honesty when asked to give himself a grade for 2025. “An F that became an F-plus,” Clark said on Friday after moving into a tie for the 36-hole lead at the Hero World Challenge.
David Cannon
Technically, Wyndham, I don’t think there’s any such thing as an F-plus. But, again, appreciate the honesty. And a T-8 in the Bahamas is a (small) sign things are turning back around.
Scottie Scheffler’s finish: Despite hanging around the top of the leaderboard all week in the Bahamas, the World No. 1 didn’t win. WHAT’S WRONG WITH SCOTTIE?!
Jared C. Tilton
Kidding. Sort of.
ON TAP
The fall—actually, let’s just call it winter since I’m dealing with wind chills in the teens right now—season continues with the Grant Thornton Invitational, AKA that one with co-ed teams. And on the DP World Tour, there’s the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa, which is NOT to be confused with the Alfred Dunhill LINKS Championship in Scotland. Completely different wildlife in those two areas of the world so be careful if you’re attending this week’s event.
Random tournament fact: Adam Scott beat Justin Rose by one shot at the 2001 Alfred Dunhill Championship. Nearly a quarter century later and both guys are still playing great golf. Impressive.
RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK
—Christiaan Bezuidenhout will win the Alfred Dunhill: 9-to-1 odds (Favorite)
—Nelly Korda/Denny McCarthy will win the Grant Thornton: 5.5-to-1 odds (Favorites)
—My wife will NOT go for my full-time golf influencer pitch: LOCK
TWEET OF THE WEEK (GOLFER DIVISION)
As the world’s biggest Chris Paul fan, it’s been a tough week. And bringing up this classic CP meme doesn’t help. But this is well done by Gotterup, who shot a Sunday 67 to finish tied for last in the 20-man field.
TWEET OF THE WEEK (GOLF WRITER DIVISION)
What a sharp eye by Golf Digest’s CP as always.
TWEET OF THE WEEK (PSA DIVISION)
As I mentioned last week with my Twitter hack, I can confirm this is going around! Don’t click!
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Luke Walker
That’s Kristoffer Reitan being held in the air by tournament volunteers after winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge. It’s a great photo. And it was a great year for the 27-year-old Norwegian who climbed all the way to a career-best 33rd in the Official World Golf Ranking on the strength of his second DP World Tour title of 2025. I was going to say of the season, but the DP World Tour is already deep into the next season after the double dip of events that took place this past week. Anyway, Reitan will make his Masters debut in April. Just don’t expect to see him on anyone’s shoulders at Augusta National.
VIRAL VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK (WEIRD SHOT DIVISION)
Rory McIlroy’s first tournament at Royal Melbourne produced both a whiff:
And a banana ball. Literally.
What a wild sport.
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (GREAT SHOT DIVISION)
Tony Finau made an albatross during a skins game at Silverleaf Country Club. And he got it on video! Well, sort of.
Damn, too bad for that cutaway. Although, to be fair to Chris Como, how could anyone ever expect him to hole that shot?
THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION
Congrats to Ben Griffin and Dana Myeroff on tying the knot! Looks like it was a fun party!
That being said, Ben admitted to a bit of a scheduling blunder in an interview with Front Office Sports. He would have definitely played in the Hero World Challenge and not had his wedding this past weekend if he had even thought earning a spot in the Hero was possible. Instead, this is what he was thinking with the December date: “If I have a bad year, I'm gonna have to go to Q School." Well, after winning three times on the PGA Tour this year, he doesn’t have to worry about that for a long time. And, hey, at least he didn’t schedule the wedding during the Ryder Cup.
THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS
J.R. Smith got called out by a couple fellow hoopers for a timed social post:
Don’t worry, J.R., it was still a good post. Also, it allowed me to mention CP3 twice for the first time in the history of The Grind, so thank you.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“One thing I ask myself, which is kind of funny, don't know if I should share it, but I've gotta ask myself, ‘What was Scottie Scheffler doing at 23?’ He was still working his way on the Korn Ferry Tour, or maybe even not, I don't know, but look where he is now at 27, 28 years old.” —Akshay Bhatia on realizing at 23 he’s still really young. Now, Akshay said this when he was one shot off the lead after 36 holes in the Bahamas before finishing 14th out of 20th. But he makes a good point.
THIS AND THAT
There’s a rumor that Brooks Koepka will sit out this season on LIV and return to the PGA Tour next year after serving a 12-month suspension. It would certainly be an interesting move given that he’d forfeit $20 million-plus. … As a reminder of how much tour pros travel, Michael Kim shared this yearly recap:
I certainly found that much more interesting than all the Spotify recaps going around. … The Open Championship announced it’s moving to August in 2028 to accommodate the Summer Olympics. The much more interesting part of this is the R&A hasn’t announced where that Open will be yet. Meanwhile, the USGA has the U.S. Opens pretty much mapped out until 2051! … Speaking of big numbers, after no one won the Powerball jackpot on Monday night, the prize has risen to $930 million. I think I have to buy a ticket now. … And, finally, as is an almost annual tradition, I’ve broken out a new sweatsuit from Costco. And I’m back to black again after being told by my wife I was no longer allowed to wear my old one out of the house:
No comment on whether I’m still wearing the same size.
RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER
How much did Tony Finau win for that albatross skin?
What’s the best golf course I could buy if I hit the Powerball?
Should Team USA hire Curt Cignetti as Ryder Cup captain?