The Loop
Chicago Cubs infielder fires 69—and still manages to lose by 11 shots to PGA Tour pro
Ian Happ is a good enough recreational golfer to probably have briefly considered quitting his day job at some point. That is, if the Chicago Cubs second baseman didn't already have a dream day job playing Major League Baseball. But we're guessing he realizes how foolish a notion that would be after what happened on Friday.
Happ, a two-handicap in Golf Digest's latest pro athlete rankings and whose dad was a longtime agronomist for the USGA, fired a nice little 69—and lost. By ELEVEN strokes.
As you might have guessed, Happ was beaten by someone who plays golf for a living on the PGA Tour. And even if the current golf season has been put on hold by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Joel Dahmen appears to be in mid-season form. Check out this incredible scorecard from his 58—including a back-nine 26!—to break the course record at Arizona's Mesa Country Club:
As you can see, Dahmen was "only" two under through seven holes—and actually two shots behind Happ—before going 12 under over his final 11 holes. We don't care how the course setup, that's absolutely ridiculous. As you can also see, the group didn't exactly adhere to social distancing guidelines after, but we'll focus on the positive. . . 58! And 26! (But seriously, if you play, please practice social distancing and be careful out there.)
Dahmen is one of several PGA Tour players in the field at next week's Scottsdale AZ Open. On Friday, DraftKings installed him as a huge (+450) favorite to win the event, but those odds are only going down after this performance.
As for Happ and Chicago Cubs teammate Kyle Schwarber (who shot 81)? If they were playing against Dahmen, we hope they brought their checkbooks.