Phil Mickelson’s magical shot, Dustin Johnson/Paulina Gretzky’s steamy photo shoot and a new golf holiday

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we cordially invite you to celebrate the inaugural Ace Day. What’s Ace Day? Well, it’s June 10, the anniversary of my long-awaited first hole-in-one at Oak Hill Country Club’s famed 15th, which happened at a Coaches vs. Cancer outing, came in front of Carlos Boozer and ESPN’s Sean Farnham, and earned a congratulatory message from my Oak Hill ace brother Michael Block as well as both an entire SportsCenter segment as well as a spot in the top 10 plays of the day. It was quite a moment in golf history. Let’s take a look back, shall we?

And to ensure that everyone around me remembers, I even added Ace Day to the family calendar and made sure my wife got a notification:

Yes, she was initially very confused. But I’m already convinced everyone lucky enough to have made a hole-in-one should celebrate their own ace anniversary. Or, ace anniversaries, if you're really lucky. Anyway, I’m fired up as I wear my Oak Hill quarter-zip into the office and I’m ready to talk about everything else (actually) happening in golf. Let’s do it. And happy Ace Day to all!

WE’RE BUYING

Ryan Fox: I’m not sure if this New Zealander celebrates Ace Day, but he just capped a dream month of winning his first two PGA Tour titles. And the 38-year-old loves to make things dramatic! First, there was a walk-off chip-in to win a playoff at the Myrtle Beach Classic and now another playoff win in which he came up clutch with “the best shot I’ve ever hit,” a towering 3-wood to six feet, on the fourth extra hole against Sam Burns at the RBC Canadian Open:

By the way, I’m also buying the PGA Tour changing the pin placement during the playoff. I love mixing it up like that, and it led to that amazing shot by Fox.

Joaquin Niemann: Do I think LIV Golf is the most competitive tour on the planet? Not even close. But when a guy wins four out of eight events like Niemann has after winning at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, you’ve got to take notice. The 25-year-old Chilean has dominated LIV like no one has since its inception.

So, great job, Joaquin. But now it’s time to contend at a major championship.

Phil Mickelson: I was going to stick this in the viral-video-of-the-week section, but it’s too good. What a freaking golf shot by Lefty:

So sick. And here's another angle:

That’s vintage Phil right there. That’s basically pulling off a trick shot with the tournament on the line. What a talent. What a showman. What a content god still.

Jennifer Kupcho: The Wake Forest golfer ended a nearly three-year winless drought with a victory at the ShopRite Classic, her fourth career LPGA title.

It was a performance that was even more impressive based on how Kupcho was playing just a couple months ago. “I struggled a lot at the beginning of the year,” the 28-year-old said. “I completely lost my swing back in L.A. pretty much. I tried to figure that out. Going into Chevron, I didn’t know where the ball was going. To be able to say I won now, only a few weeks later, is kind of insane.” Good for you, Jennifer. Also, it was nice to see a Wake Forest golfer win, especially because …

WE’RE SELLING

Cameron Young’s finish: Man, my fellow Demon Deacon just can’t get into the winner’s circle. Things looked great late for Young at TPC Toronto as he even made an all-time par save on the penultimate hole to give himself a chance. But then he flushed a 3-wood some 20 yards over the green on 18 and made a disastrous bogey. Good for him for talking to the media after, though! (Just another classy Wake Forest product.)

Instead of winning or making a playoff, Young dropped to T-4. So this didn’t even add to his seven runner-up finishes even though it sure felt like one. SEVEN runner-ups without a PGA Tour title. That’s tough to do.

Shane Gillis’ Masters take: I’m a fan of this comedian, but not of his reviews after attending the Masters. To be fair, I get where he’s coming from. Back in April, Gillis said he “couldn’t see sh–” and yes, that does happen at the Masters and other golf tournaments, but to call the experience “dog sh–” and say it “sucked” seems a bit much.

It’s the freaking Masters! And he took a freaking private jet to Augusta to get there. Sounds pretty freaking awesome to me and every other golf fan on the planet. Anyway, if you were that unhappy at Augusta National, Shane, definitely don’t ever bother going to a U.S. Open.

Not betting on Scottie Scheffler: As in, we’ve been missing out. Well, I have, at least. Bill Speros at Bookies.com crunched the numbers and it turns out that betting on Scheffler to win at every event since he started his incredible run three-plus years ago would have produced an ROI of 65 percent. Which is more than double a (pretty hot) S&P 500 during that same time period.

Yes, this is even factoring in the fact that Scheffler has been a huge favorite virtually every time he’s teed it up the past couple years and that you’re “not getting a lot of bang for your buck” betting on him. He wins so much that you still are. And now I’ve missed this golden opportunity. And in another three years of betting against Scottie because he’s “due to cool down,” I’ll probably be saying the same thing. Sigh. Hey, at least it’s still Ace Day.

ON TAP

With all due respect to the Masters, the best week of the year is here. Hit the freaking Yanni music. It’s U.S. Open week, folks:

Chills every time. And it’s tough to get more fired up for a U.S. Open being held at Oakmont Country Club, AKA that place where Johnny Miller shot his famous 63, but where most everyone else would settle for shooting 73. Jason Day certainly seems fired up for the event:

We had Jason on last week’s episode of The Loop podcast and he talked about becoming a fashion icon, battling dad injuries and Oakmont. Check it out:

Random tournament fact: This will be the 10th time that Oakmont has hosted a U.S. Open. No other course has hosted the national championship more than seven times. And deservingly so. (Yes, I’m partial to places with the word “Oak” in them.)

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Rory’s driver will fail a test on the eve of a major again: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Rory will get back to winning majors this week: 6-to-1 odds

—Rory remembers the 15th hole at Oak Hill: LOCK

TWEET OF THE WEEK

With so much talk and so many videos about Oakmont’s rough, golf fans everywhere are turning into amateur agronomists. But my former Golf Digest colleague Claire Rogers had the best response to the highgrass discourse:

Well played, Claire.

TWEET OF THE WEEK (CLUB PRO GUY DIVISION)

PHOTO(S) OF THE WEEK

It would be tough to top making one in front of Carlos Boozer that gets recorded and then aired on SportsCenter, but making one in front of Tiger Woods is right there:

Very cool. Congrats to Jake Sherwin on getting his own Ace Day.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (ON-COURSE DIVISION)

More Oakmont rough content! Although, this time, Jhonattan Vegas captured an army of mowers cutting the thick grass:

Too bad, as Oakmont superintendent Mike McCormick explained on the Fried Egg Golf Podcast, Vegas has it all wrong. They're cutting the grass higher and freshly cut grass helps the golf ball settle down more. So, the last thing these players want to see is these mowers. Speaking of mowing, I’d love if these guys could come over to my house when the week is over. My yard is starting to look like Oakmont’s rough.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (OFF-COURSE DIVISION)

This guy hitting golf balls in a hospital room while his wife is in labor is an absolute maniac:

And I want to shake his hand. Now that’s a guy who would appreciate Ace Day.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (SHIP-OFF-COURSE DIVISION)

You don't see this every day:

That’s a tough spot to be in.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

The last time Oakmont hosted the U.S. Open, Dustin Johnson was the winner and the undisputed best player on the planet. Nine years ago, DJ and Paulina Gretzky were also posting steamy photo shoots on a seemingly weekly basis. Kinda like this one that Paulina posted on the eve of this year’s U.S. Open:

Does this mean DJ is back?! Probably not. His major championship performance the past two years has been so bad I’ve started calling him Dustbin Johnson. But you’ve gotta admire the couple trying to rekindle the good vibes ahead of his Oakmont title defense. It’s almost enough for me to sprinkle a few bucks on him at 170-to-1(!) odds. Almost.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Luke Clanton got a pep talk ahead of his pro debut from fellow Florida State legend Jameis Winston:

Unfortunately, Clanton missed the cut, but Jameis is still the GOAT of pep talks. And missing cuts will not be a typical result for Luke.

THIS WEEK IN BRYSON BEING BRYSON

Bryson videoed an entire practice round at Oakmont, giving fans a unique look at just how (hard) the course will play at the U.S. Open. And, yes, he posted his own obligatory dropping-a-ball-in-the-rough video:

Never mind that no one will be hitting a golf ball there this week as our Jamie Kennedy pointed out:

But Bryson knows you can't let anything get in the way of good content!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Didn’t sleep very much.” —Luke Clanton on being paired with Rory McIlroy (not to mention, Ludvig Aberg also) for his pro debut. Talk about being thrown into the fire right away!

THIS AND THAT

The PGA Tour unveiled its new Drone AR Smart Tracer during the RBC Canadian Open that tells viewers early if a tee shot is going to miss the fairway:

And part of me feels we’ve gone too far now with TV technology. … Rory McIlroy shot 71-78 in his final U.S. Open tuneup in Canada. Needless to say, that is NOT what you want in a final tuneup anywhere, but especially before you head to Oakmont. … If you’re headed to Oakmont, you’ll be happy to know the beer prices aren’t that bad. Actually, the prices of all the concessions aren’t that bad:

I mean, it’s no Masters, but what is? … And, finally, to celebrate Ace Day (well, actually, it was a birthday present from my wife, but she got the hole wrong bless her heart so I had to get it corrected), I had this made by Golf Course Prints:

What a beautiful piece of art, huh?

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Where should I hang that Oak Hill print?

What should I do to properly celebrate Ace Day?

Will I ever get a second Ace Day on the calendar?