Scottie Scheffler’s special homecoming, Phil Mickelson’s failed prediction and an emergency plane landing at Riviera

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we were witness to one of the most impressive—and dominant—performances in recent golf history. And, no, I’m not talking about Scottie Scheffler. Greg Snedeker continues to haunt me in the Golf Digest Match Play Championship. And by “haunt,” I mean OWN. I’d like to complain about the shots I was giving him, but it didn’t matter because he easily won straight up, blitzing me with a net 63(!) that would have made Club Pro Guy proud:

I’m not sure how someone who is a (distant) relative of Brandt Snedeker could fall to an 8-handicap, but I am sure that he eliminated me for a third time in four years, so congrats to our Sneds. They always say “Play better” after a loss, but I’m adopting a “Play worse” mantra, because I clearly need to get my handicap up before my golf trip next month. In the meantime, here’s what else is going on in golf.

WE’RE BUYING

Scottie Scheffler: The World No. 1’s previous PGA Tour victory involved strokes, but he certainly didn’t need any this time, running away from the field by EIGHT shots at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. And after, despite the complete lack of drama, Scheffler got emotional, because it’s his hometown event where he made his PGA Tour debut 11 years ago and where he once took a photo with the great Byron Nelson.

What a sweet full-circle moment. Of course, it would have been even sweeter if Scheffler hadn’t chunked that chip on the penultimate hole or if he had birdied the finishing par 5. Either would have given him sole possession of the PGA Tour 72-hole scoring record. But now we’re just nitpicking. Having a share of that record and shooting a 31-under-par 253(!) is still pretty cool.

Anyway, so much for that winless “drought” Scheffler was in. Although, after winning nine times during a historic 2024 campaign, needing nine starts to win in 2025 probably felt like a slump to Scottie.

Bryson DeChambeau: We got on Bryson last week for not closing out tournaments, and he came right back with a win in South Korea. The Grind won’t take credit for the victory, but we won’t not take credit, either.

Surprisingly, this was DeChambeau’s first LIV victory since 2023. But now he’ll enter the PGA Championship on a one-tournament winning streak. Just like Scottie. And then you have Rory McIlroy on a historic heater of his own. Can we just fast-forward to the PGA?

CAN’T WAIT!

Hunter Wolcott: I’m mainly buying the fact that officials penalized Wolcott one shot during the second round of a PGA Tour Americas event. This is part of a stricter slow-play policy being tested out that will hopefully make its way up to the PGA Tour. Of course, any policy would be stricter than the one currently in place. But again, Wolcott got a one-stroke penalty for his first bad time in the tournament to become the first player penalized under the new system. And that’s major progress for arguably golf’s biggest problem. But what did Hunter do? He responded by winning the tournament!

Good for him. And good for the tour. Let’s see more of this, please.

WE’RE SELLING

Phil Mickelson’s prediction: In one of the most random “hot takes” ever, the six-time major champ predicted in March that Scottie Scheffler wouldn’t win before the Ryder Cup in late September. Remember this?

Whoops. That’s an all-time bad take by an all-time great golfer. And at the time, I pondered reaching out to the legend to see if he’d actually bet me on that. Oh well. To Phil’s credit, he hopped on X Sunday night to admit his mistake:

All good, Phil. Just don’t expect anyone to ask you for your PGA Championship picks.

Shooting 23 under and losing: By EIGHT shots. Seriously, that’s gotta sting for Erik van Rooyen. I mean, I lost that badly to Greg Snedeker, but I didn't shoot a low number. And EVR doesn't even have the option to play worse to get his handicap up! In all seriousness, though, it was a nice week for the South African, and I also liked his candid thoughts on the tour’s signature events—even after qualifying for one by virtue of his performance:

EVR makes some great points there. I don’t want this to turn into a huge thing on signature events, and I do think there’s a place for them to reward the top players like the NFL’s top teams are given a first-round playoff bye. But I do think there are too many of them. Especially when you have one the week after the Masters and the week before the PGA. Anyway, moving on …

Rangefinder slope penalty: First off, kudos to Davis Riley for self-reporting that he accidentally saw a slope-adjusted yardage on his rangefinder during the second round at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. And even more kudos to him for rallying to make the cut after being slapped with a two-shot penalty. There's no photo of this so here's a photo of Ted Scott using a rangefinder to help Scottie Scheffler:

Anyway, my problem is with this rule. I love that the PGA Tour is testing out the use of these devices in an effort to speed up play. As I’ve written, I finally got one last year and I love it. I also love that slope feature and think it should be allowed in competition. Especially after seeing what happened here. It’s impossible to police this, so I think they should just let them use the slope feature. Besides, how much elevation change could there possibly be at a place called TPC Craig Ranch?

ON TAP

The PGA Tour season continues with the Truist Championship, AKA the old Wells Fargo Championship, AKA the one they usually play at Quail Hollow. Instead, Philadelphia Cricket Club will host the PGA Tour for the first time while Quail Hollow will be the site of next week’s PGA Championship. And there is also the Myrtle Beach Classic. And the good news for everyone teeing it up on tour this week is that Scottie Scheffler isn’t playing in either tournament. The DP World Tour and Robin Tiger Williams, this week’s guest on The Loop podcast, will be at the Turkish Airlines Open. Have a listen to our chat with the young man named after Tiger Woods here:

And the LPGA will be coming to our neck of the woods for the Mizuho Americas Classic at Liberty National. Nelly Korda is the defending champ there, but you can pretty much say that about every LPGA event this year.

Random tournament fact: Xander Schauffele has finished runner-up in this signature event the past two years. Of course, that bodes better for him at next week’s PGA Championship given that it’s once again the week after. And that it’s being played at Quail Hollow. Just saying.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Xander Schauffele will win this week in Philadelphia: 16-to-1 odds

—Xander Schauffele will win next week in Charlotte: 12-to-1 odds

—Xander Schauffele would rather win next week: LOCK

TWEET OF THE WEEK

We’re going to let Club Pro Guy hold down this space until further notice.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Brilliant. Someone has to sponsor her bag after that.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (GOOFY DIVISION)

The Internet’s latest ridiculous debate—Could 100 men beat one gorilla in a fight?—has been all over the place, but someone finally asked someone who knows a thing or two about this topic. That would be Boo Weekley, who famously once fought an orangutan at a country fair. And got knocked out. Anyway, here’s Boo’s take:

And who are we to argue with an expert?

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (SCARY DIVISION)

A small plane had to make an emergency landing at Riviera, prompting a slew of running-late-to-your-tee-time jokes:

Fortunately, no one—and no holes—were seriously harmed. And, no, this was not part of the latest season of Nathan Fielder’s “The Rehearsal.” At least, I don’t think so. What a wild, amazing show.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Rory McIlroy finally made his Masters victory media tour and he revealed the five-word congratulatory text that Tiger Woods sent him: “Welcome to the club, kid.” It’s classic that Tiger calls Rory, who turned 36 last week, “kid.” Here was Rory’s full, fun segment, which included him recreating the chip shots into a washing machine that he used to do when he was actually a kid:

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Jason Kelce is really getting into golf in retirement. To the point that he solicited swing tips from all of … Reddit:

Good luck on your golf journey, Jason. Oh, and, you should try asking Golf Digest for some help …

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"It's inspiring what he's doing. It makes me want to work harder and be better, especially after watching him for two days and just getting my butt kicked. I didn't play great golf, but even if I did, it would have been hard to be at 18-under in two rounds. I don't think I've ever done that. So just getting your butt kicked right there face to face at this tournament really stinks." —Jordan Spieth on Scottie Scheffler. Don't beat yourself up too bad, Jordan. Everyone got their butt kicked by Scottie this time.

THIS AND THAT

Congrats to Tyler Collet on winning the PGA Professional Championship. By TEN shots. Tyler, and, yes, Michael Block(!), will be part of a 20-pro contingent heading to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow next week. …

Congrats to Haeran Ryu on winning the inaugural Black Desert Championship for her third career LPGA Tour title. Although, if you only win by five does it even count? Kidding. … RIP Jim Dent, the 12-time PGA Tour Champions winner who died at 85. From starting as a caddie at Augusta, what an incredible life and career. … Dustin Johnson was given an exemption into next week’s PGA Championship. For what, exactly, I’m not sure. … Billy Horschel has elected to have “preventative” hip surgery and will be out for an extended period of time. On the bright side, he should be at full strength for what really matters: the 2026 TGL season. … And, finally, thanks to my wife, I’ve been trying out a new soda, Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar Blackberry:

And it’s surprisingly good. Not as good as regular Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar, but what is? Anyway, I’m proud of myself for expanding my palate.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Why do people fly small planes?

Will I ever beat Greg Snedeker?

Will I ever win the Golf Digest Match Play Championship?