An instant classic Walker Cup, a supermodel spotting in the gallery and the worst golf shot you didn’t see

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we don’t ever have to worry about applying to have our amateur status reinstated. Let’s just say I’m in a bit of a slump with my golf game—which is made even more painful by all the work I’ve put into my game in the past year as chronicled for my “Late Scratch?” series. And on Friday I suffered the most embarrassing moment of my life on a golf course with this near whiff with a driver that resulted in my golf ball hitting a house that apparently had never been hit before:

To be clear, it’s not all bad. I was coming off a birdie, one of three on the day, but good lord was that brutal. Thanks(?) to our Ben Walton for capturing that footage. It pained me to share it, but I may as well get out in front of it before the annual Golf Digest Seitz Cup next month, where that is sure to be used as fodder by Team Young against Team Old. Plus, I’m a content guy so I’m willing to suffer a bit more embarrassment in the name of, well, content. So, go ahead and take your shots because nothing will hurt me as much as the actual shot itself. And with that said, let’s talk about something else, anything else. Please.

WE’RE BUYING

The Walker Cup: What an incredible event. Obviously, this one was always going to be worth watching when you combine all the up-and-coming talent (plus Stew Hagestad) and Lahinch as a backdrop. But what transpired on Sunday as Great Britain and Ireland pulled off an all-time comeback victory was almost beyond belief. Here’s a fantastic breakdown from Normal Sport’s Kyle Porter of what had to be a 1-in-a-100 (1,000?) rally:

And special shout-out to Josh Hill, by far the highest-ranked player on either team, for making that incredible up-and-down birdie to win the entire thing.

My knees were shaking just watching that. Anyway, the future of golf looks in good hands with these young lads.

Thriston Lawrence: Drop this guy in Switzerland and he’s prime Tiger Woods. The 29-year-old South African won the Omega European Masters for a third time (to tie Seve Ballesteros' mark) in five years. This time he needed some serious help from Paul Casey (more on that in a bit), but Lawrence also shot a Sunday 62 on his way to a his sixth career DP World Tour title:

Great reaction from the big guy. With all due respect to Presidents Cup International Team captain Geoff Ogilvy, I think he made a mistake not making this guy a captain’s pick for later this month.

Jay Leng’s Irish journey: The Stanford junior who lost in the final of the U.S. Amateur last month suffered another heartbreaking loss at the Walker Cup, but he still emerged as a winner from his time in Ireland. Check out this insane itinerary he managed to pull off while visiting the Emerald Isle:

Now THAT’s a golf trip.

WE’RE SELLING

Paul Casey closing: The Brit has had a great career—although, like many, it doesn’t seem like we’ve heard much from him since leaving for LIV Golf—but he’s never been great at finishing tournaments. And on Sunday, sadly, we saw that again as Casey bogeyed the 72nd hole (despite getting an all-time good break) to drop into a playoff with Lawrence that he eventually lost:

HOWEVAH, we have to mention a couple Casey positives. First, he’s 49?! Man, I feel old. And the guy still looks great out there. And second, Casey made a very generous gesture in vowing to donate his entire £354,734.74 tournament check to the victims of the devastating fire in Crans-Montana earlier this year. And he said that when he had the 54-hole lead and it looked like he was going to win even more. More like Paul Classey.

Reinstated amateurs: I joked about this earlier, but it’s become a serious topic of conversation of late—and rightfully so. Just days after Colt Knost, a guy who made 199 starts and earned nearly $4.5 million on the PGA Tour, shared that his amateur application had been put on hold, Mike Sposa, who made 334 starts across the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour, won the U.S. Senior Amateur:

These are guys who played golf for a living for years. I don't care what they're doing now, that's a huge competitive advantage over normal working folk. Heck, not to rain on Great Britain & Ireland's parade, but having Stuart Grehan, who tried to make it as a tour pro for seven years, is a bit much. Sorry, Colt, while there are certain cases where this makes sense, the situation is getting out of hand. And it seems like the USGA is (finally) doing something about it.

Hitting a shot out of the water: Thriston Lawrence’s win was made even more impressive by the fact he was able to overcome this disaster during the third round:

Then again, that shot was about the least impressive thing I’ve ever seen a tour pro do on a golf course. I mean, that’s almost as embarrassing as my near whiff with the driver. What in the world was Thriston thinking?! Anyway, safe to say, do NOT try this at home.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour takes another week off, but there’s still plenty of action, highlighted by the Solheim Cup, AKA that other biennial competition between the U.S. and Europe that the U.S. used to dominate. This time, the competition is in the Netherlands for the first time. And there’s more golf on the Emerald Isle with the Irish Open at Doonbeg, where (former?) LIV stars like Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Joaquin Niemann will tee it up.

Random tournament fact: With the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands, we’d be remiss to not mention the country’s all-time greatest golfer, Joost Luiten. And when mentioning Joost, it’s impossible not to think of the time he was serenaded with “Joost is on fire!” after winning his native open:

The six-time DP World Tour winner finished T-39 in Switzerland last week so he wasn’t quite as on fire, but he’s still a Dutch golf hero.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Thriston Lawrence will attempt a water shot this week: 1 MILLION-to-1-odds

—Thriston Lawrence will win again this week: 92-to-1 odds

—There will be a “Joost is on fire!” chant if he shows up to the Solheim Cup: LOCK

TWEET OF THE WEEK

No one was more fired up about making the Presidents Cup team than Chris Gotterup, who had this patriotic montage ready to fire off:

You love to see it. Especially if you’re U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (ON-COURSE DIVISION)

This dog walker stole the show at the Walker Cup:

Cute clip. And one I’m definitely not showing my girls because they’d start begging for a dog again.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (OFF-COURSE DIVISION)

The drinks were on Ryder Cup legend Ian Poulter after his son, Luke, helped lead Great Britain & Ireland to the win over Team USA:

Luke Poulter’s son is now winning big international competitions? And I thought learning Paul Casey was 49 made me feel old. Anyway, I’m glad to see some of that LIV money is going to good use.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

OK, maybe “celebrity” is stretching it, but loved this golf swing celebration by Wisconsin punter Sean West after pulling off arguably the greatest punt of all time:

Talk about being dialed in with your yardages!

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLF FANS

There was a Cindy Crawford sighting in Switzerland!

I haven’t seen anything about her in what seems like decades. Actually, the only time I’ve heard her name mentioned recently is that her daughter, Kaia Gerber, is one of the stars of “The Shards.” She’s very good, but I’ll reserve my final judgement of the show until after this week’s season finale. But I’m heavily leaning toward not recommending it.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Justin Thomas was thrilled to receive this amazing sweater from Sungjae Im/HIM:

It would be amazing if he wore it at the Presidents Cup while they played each other.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We’re dream crushing right now.” —World No. 1 amateur Preston Stout after the U.S. swept Sunday morning foursomes to take a commanding lead into the final session of the Walker Cup. Whoops.

THIS AND THAT

Tiger Woods had his license suspended for five years, but despite that viral clip of a confused Florida State Attorney, yes, he is still allowed to drive golf carts. On the course. So, a potential PGA Tour Champions career hasn’t been derailed. . . . Geoff Ogilvy asked the PGA Tour about letting LIV players participate in the Presidents Cup. Considering the long odds his International Team is facing later this month, you can't blame him for trying. . . . Today is Thank a Golf Course Superintendent Day and it’s a good idea to do so. These people take a lot of criticism and meanwhile they’re tasked with keeping hundreds of acres in great shape. Meanwhile, I can’t even keep my small backyard looking good. . . . Shout-out to the "Core Four" of the "Nachorama" golf trip, Drew Clark, Steve Krismalian, Jon Shogren and Mike Shogren, who recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of their annual sojourn in style at Pebble Beach:

Their big prize that they play for? A plate of steak nachos. Man, there's nothing better than a buddies golf trip. . . . And, finally, we took the girls into NYC over the long weekend and stopped at a special store that’s near and dear to my heart: