Nelly Korda’s victory cold plunge, Scottie Scheffler’s upcoming kryptonite and Jena Sims gets the full New York Post treatment

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we may have just witnessed the most exciting week in golf history. You’ve got a pair of World No. 1s continuing historic runs, a cool PGA Tour comeback story and a 15-year-old phenom turning heads. Throw in witnessing the most exciting New York Knicks win in 25 years and it’s almost too much! So, as always, we’re here to talk about it all. The golf, that is. If you want to talk about the Knicks, email me or hit me up on Twitter X. Go New York, go New York, go! Sorry. OK, let’s get to the golf now.

WE’RE BUYING

Nelly Korda: This is getting ridiculous. Five wins in a row?! Including a major? She’s on FIRE! Or as another Nelly once poetically said, “It’s getting hot in herre.” Nelly Korda can’t lose right now. She won’t lose right now. When things got somewhat tight at the Chevon Championship on Sunday, she chipped in. When they got even tighter later than that, she nearly aced the penultimate hole. And then she showed off a cannonball form that’s almost as perfect as her golf swing:

Korda received $1.2 million plus a cozy robe for winning her second career major title. And she needed it, because, Toto, we're not in Poppie's Pond anymore:

A bout with hypothermia is about the only thing that could cool her off right now.

Scottie Scheffler: This is getting ridiculous as well. We made a big deal of Jon Rahm upholding his commitment to the RBC Heritage last year after winning the Masters, but not only did Scottie do that (with a 9-month pregnant wife), he won the freaking tournament for his fourth victory in five starts. And he would have five straight like Nelly if not for a missed four-footer at the Houston Open. The guy is an absolute machine right now.

And he has really been adding to his closet:

I’m surprised he didn’t play the Valero Texas Open just to win those boots they give out. OK, Scottie, now enjoy some real time off with your wife and that baby on the way. At least, that’s what everyone else on tour is hoping you do.

Billy Horschel: Not even 11 months ago, Billy Horschel shot an opening 84 at the Memorial in which he hit two greens in regulation. Afterwards, he couldn’t hold back the tears as he admitted, “My confidence is the lowest it’s been in my career.” Remember this?

Now less than a year later, Horschel is a PGA Tour winner again after shooting a final-round 63 at the Corales Puntacana Championship that led to a much more enjoyable Q&A:

You love to see it. Good for you, Billy.

Miles Russell: At this point, this young man might be Scottie’s next rival. Only 15, Russell became the youngest golfer to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event and at one point on Sunday was tied for third after making seven birdies in a 10-hole span before finishing T-20. Again, he’s FIFTEEN!

Just amazing stuff. And this is nothing new. Last year Russell broke Tiger Woods’ record as the youngest AJGA Player of the Year and he signed his first NIL deal in the fall. When I was 15 the only deal I cared about was the sandwich, bag of chips and soda at the deli during lunch. Oh, and the Knicks were great back then. Good times. Anyway, this kid is special. And this probably won’t be the last age-related record he sets.

WE’RE SELLING

LPGA pace of play: It was awesome watching Nelly Korda continue her march to history, but what a slow march it was on Sunday. To be clear, Korda is a fast player, but that doesn’t matter when everyone else around you is moving like a hobbled Joel Embiid on defense (On offense, he looks pretty good!). Yes, they played in threesomes, but six hours and six minutes for the final group is unacceptable.

Waiting for history: Unfortunately, golf fans won’t get to see Nelly go for that record sixth consecutive win this week because she withdrew from the JM Eagle Championship. Korda cited exhaustion, and we don’t blame her. It takes a lot out of you to be in contention every week. And again, that dip in the water probably didn’t help. In any event, it seems like Korda will try to break the record next month at the Cognizant Founders Cup in New Jersey.

But hey, if I could wait 25 years for the Knicks to be great and exciting again, we can all wait a couple more weeks to see if Nelly can make (more) history.

Tiger’s timing: Tiger Woods single handedly boosted PGA Tour prize money to heights never seen and he certainly benefited from that throughout his career. But if he were in his prime now—during the PGA Tour vs. LIV battle that’s raised purses and bonuses even more—he would be RAKING it in. Shout-out to Golf Digest’s Jamie Kennedy for crunching the numbers on how much Tiger Woods’ historic 2000 season would be worth in 2024 money:

That’s just insane.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour rolls on with the Zurich Classic, AKA that one they play with two-man teams around a three-legged gator and have fun walk-up music. As mentioned, the LPGA is in L.A. and LIV Golf returns with the raucous Adelaide event. If that’s not enough golf for you, then be sure to check out “The Long Game,” a new movie based on an inspiring true story. And to celebrate that, we had one of the film’s executive producers, Canelo Alvarez, on this week’s episode of The Loop podcast. Oh, yeah, Canelo also happens to be arguably the best boxer on the planet. Check it out:

Random tournament fact: Billy Horschel is the only player to win the Zurich Classic as both individually and as a team event. So he’s heating up at the exact right time of the season.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—The field in New Orleans wishes Scottie Scheffler was there: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Billy Horschel (and Tyson Alexander) will win this week: 50-to-1 odds

—Billy and Tyson will be doing plenty of gator chomps all week: LOCK

TWEET OF THE WEEK

So true! If Scottie goes right from that to winning the PGA Championship, he’s not human.

CLUB PRO GUY TWEET OF THE WEEK

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (HAPPY PRO DIVISION)

Bryson DeChambeau birdied a par 5 playing with kids clubs:

These guys are good.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (UPSET PRO DIVISION)

Brian Harman gave an all-time quick Q&A session after he ended his first round with a double bogey:

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (AMATEUR DIVISION)

Neal Shipley got a deserved hero’s welcome upon returning to Ohio State following his big week at the Masters:

He also did a great job making the media rounds to explain those awkward viral videos from the Masters. Big fan.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (STARTER DIVISION)

I’m a big fan of this guy as well:

Hire him for every tournament!

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Nick Faldo tossed quite a compliment at Ludvig Aberg:

Tough to argue with a six-time major champ and longtime golf analyst.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS

Congrats to Jena Sims on getting into the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue:

But she really made it to the big time by getting covered by the New York Post:

Impressive! That being said, I liked this NYP page better:

KNICKS BASKETBALL!!!

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Shout-out to my guy Mardy Fish winning another golf tournament:

And then there was Tony Romo giving us yet another “insane” Scottie Scheffler stat:

Which partly explains this next quote …

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I'm going to get a breakfast burrito, some coffee and I'm going to go home.” —Scottie Scheffler on how he’s going to celebrate his latest win. In other words, "Ho hum."

THIS AND THAT

Tiger Woods announced Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner as the three other members of his TGL franchise, the Jupiter Links Golf Club. Let’s hope they actually (finally) play in 2025. … A former Augusta National employee was charged with stealing millions of dollars of Masters merchandise and memorabilia. Considering how much Augusta National cracks down on minor offenses like running, that would have to be one of the last places you’d want to get caught stealing from. … Masters TV ratings were down, but gambling—especially among women—was WAY up this year. Golf (gambling)! So hot right now. … And, finally, I hit my first golf balls of the year since my knee surgery:

The pop was lacking (even more than normal), but it was nice to be back out there.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How much money has Scottie Scheffler taken off Tony Romo?

How long until I get my pop back on the range/course?

How long until the Knicks break my heart as usual.