Scottie Scheffler’s select company, Brooks Koepka’s beer run and Nike’s brilliant ad

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we love a good redemption story. A year ago, a young man got out of jail and got his life back on track. And this year, the only thing Scottie Scheffler locked up at the PGA Championship was that giant Wanamaker Trophy. I’d like to imagine his former inmates listening to the call on the prison radio while banging the bars of their jail cell with cups in solidarity. It could be an especially stirring scene when people get around to making the World No. 1’s biopic. In the meantime, let’s talk about Scottie’s latest masterpiece.

WE’RE BUYING

Scottie Scheffler: There were no arrests on the way to the course this time, but Scheffler still faced some hurdles. A strong field, a mudball that cost him a double bogey on Day 1 and a failed driver test that forced him to make a big equipment change on the eve of the tournament. And yet, none of those things stopped him from winning the PGA Championship. By FIVE shots.

What an absolute beast this guy is. That being said, this was a potentially pivotal moment in his career as he got to three majors ahead of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, who both looked like they had one hand on the Wanamaker Trophy at one point on the weekend. With all the amazing golf Scottie has played the past few years, he needs to start stockpiling majors at some point to be mentioned with the all-time greats, so this was a particularly big one. And his sponsor, Nike, came through with a brilliant ad worthy of the moment:

Well played. Although, to be clear, “Just Do It” doesn’t apply to any potential criminal activity. But the only thing criminal about Scottie’s performance was that it doesn’t feel fair that someone could be this good at golf. And make no mistake, that closing five-hole sequence on Saturday was as good as it gets.

Scheffler still has two more legs to complete the career Grand Slam, but he’s already in (super) select company. As stats guru Justin Ray pointed out, he joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win 15 PGA Tour titles, including three majors, before age 29. And he joined Jack and Tiger as the only golfers with multiple Masters, multiple Players Championships and a PGA. Decent.

Anyway, congrats to the World No. 1 on Major No. 3. After winning his past two starts by a combined 13(!) shots, that Christmas Day cooking incident seems like ancient history. Still, it’s probably best Scottie stays out of the kitchen going forward. Just saying.

Quail Hollow: All I heard leading into the tournament was how bad and boring this place was, but I found that far from the truth. While I’ll admit, it’s a bit strange for a course to host a major during the same time of year it usually hosts a PGA Tour event and that it basically looked the exact same, you can’t argue with the final result: A Sunday leaderboard with three multiple major champs where the World No. 1 finally pulled away.

Also, two drivable par 4s were fun. And as much as the closing “Green Mile” gets talked about, it lives up to the hype! What a beastly stretch where anything can happen. Bottom line, we can nitpick, but Quail Hollow is a great golf course (it’s in the top one percent of U.S. golf courses if you look at Golf Digest's newly released course ranking) and it’s a good test of championship golf.

Jon Rahm: Yeah, yeah, I realize this guy tumbled down the leaderboard at the finish, but it was an impressive 68-69ish holes of golf by the 30-year-old. It was great seeing Rahm back in contention at a major, and he was open about how great it felt for him as well.

I also appreciate that he talked to the media after that late collapse (although a lot of it had to do with him firing at that dangerous pin on 17 because he was only playing for the win). And talking so well about the situation. And, yes, some others could take note. Overall, it was a reminder that Rahm remains in the “Big Five” conversation.

WE’RE SELLING

Driver testing: To be clear, I’m for driver and equipment testing. You can’t let that stuff go unchecked. But to randomly test about one-third of the field every so often seems insufficient. And it’s sillier to be so secretive about the results that when a name that failed does come out, that person is treated like a criminal. In this case, it was Rory McIlroy, who according to a report had to swap out his driver ahead of the tournament because the face became non-conforming over time due to wear and tear. To be clear, Rory did nothing wrong despite what some Golf Twitter trolls are saying.

But the last-minute swap could have been a major factor in his driver struggles at Quail Hollow, a place where he’s usually so dominant (Although, Scheffler fared pretty well with his backup). Or, there could be something else going on. Either way, we don’t know, because Rory didn’t do media any of the four days. Which is another story. Anyway, this testing process needs some fixing.

Mudballs: These stink, there’s no getting around it. But I also hear people who say the randomness of mudballs could happen to anyone. Just like slicing one towards OB, but having it bounce off a tree back into the fairway like what happened to Scheffler on Saturday can happen to anyone. And that the best players in the world shouldn’t need to play lift, clean and place. So I don’t know what the answer is. Just like I don’t know what the answer should be for playing out of a divot hole when you hit one in the fairway (Scheffler also did this on Saturday on the 18th hole and made birdie!). But I do know that having to play a mudball out of a divot hole like Shane Lowry had is definitely not right.

Shane completely lost his cool. And I don’t blame him one bit. Speaking of unfair situations on the golf course …

This pin placement: There was golf happening other than at Quail Hollow and this video from the first round of the NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship went viral on Golf Twitter:

Brutal stuff. The NAIA issued an apology for the “incorrectly placed” pin, but it was Phil Mickelson, who had the perfect response, referencing the time he slapped at a moving golf ball at the 2018 U.S. Open:

Nice job, Phil. Although, that still doesn’t make up for your hilariously wrong hot take that Scottie Scheffler wouldn’t win a tournament in 2025 before the Ryder Cup. Anyway, imagine if this happened at a major championship? Golf Twitter would burn to the ground.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour season continues with the Charles Schwab Championship, AKA the Colonial, AKA the one Ben Hogan used to win all the time. Hogan would be proud of his fellow Texan, Scottie Scheffler. Not only for winning, but for supporting his home state event as he’s doing this week. That’s right, Scheffler is still in the field after winning a major championship a couple days ago. Kinda like when he played at Hilton Head after winning the Masters last year. And won. So don’t think he’s going to be taking it easy this week.

Random tournament fact: Somehow, Scheffler has finished in the top three at this event the past three years without winning. So he’s got a long way to go to catch Hogan and his five wins! And a long way to go to catch Hogan and his nine majors! Better get going, Scottie!

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Scottie will complete the career Grand Slam this year: 25-to-1 odds

—Scottie will win this week: 2.5-to-1 odds (Yes, that’s real)

—Scottie is NOT done winning majors: LOCK

TWEET/PHOTO OF THE WEEK

This is just perfect:

Although, I hope Brooksy doesn’t have a deal with Michelob Ultra anymore!

TWEET/PHOTO OF THE WEEK (SCOTTIE DIVISION)

And, if I may say so myself, this is also perfect:

Yeah, Scottie is just that good.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (PGA TOUR PRO DIVISION)

Loved seeing a little range rage from Hideki Matsuyama after missing the cut at a major for the first time since 2019 (despite that early-week grind session in the pouring range):

Hideki handled not making it to the weekend just a bit differently than Brooks.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (EX-PGA TOUR PRO DIVISION)

Johnson Wagner was on such a roll with his shot recreations until he tried to chip from where Jon Rahm was on No. 15 on Sunday—and he bladed one off the property:

“That’s why you putt it,” Rahm says as Brandel Chamblee and the rest of the “Live From” gang laughed. “That’s why you putt it.” A lesson we can all take with us to the golf course.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (FAMILY DIVISION)

For the first time, Bennett Scheffler got to see his dad win a major championship. We’re guessing it won’t be the last. In any event, the two combined for an adorable father-son moment as Scottie went into the clubhouse to sign his scorecard—and gave Bennett his hat and the 18th hole flag to play with:

Aww. It’s just probably best to not let Bennett play alone with Scottie’s new shiny toy. The Wanamaker Trophy is huge.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (FAN DIVISION)

A tournament volunteer really, REALLY wanted a golf ball that Rory McIlroy hit into the water on 14:

And it looks like he found it! Or found some golf ball, as cameras caught him slyly putting one in his pocket in a video that has since been scrubbed from the internet. Anyway, good effort. But if you’re out in public these days, you just have to assume you’re being recorded at all times.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

“So I was on the golf course yesterday. It was a perfect day. I played golf, I smoked cigars and I got drunk. Then I got drunk last night watching basketball and hockey.” —Charles Barkley’s perfect day sounds, well, perfect:

Never change, Chuck.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I love crowds,” Michael Block told GOLF.com’s Josh Schrock. “That’s kind of the funny part is I wish there was a huge crowd on every hole because that’s when I hit my shots. I really do. I always do. It’s the weirdest thing. When there’s no one around is when I hit my worst shots."

“That’s something that I need more in my life is a bigger crowd. I just need to play a little better so it could happen. I could only imagine what would have happened if I would have been playing really good this week.”

Michael Block is the best. And for more on Michael Block, have a listen to this week’s episode of The Loop podcast in which we had fellow club pro Tyler Collet on. And he told a doozy of a tale about Blockie:

THIS AND THAT

Congrats to Arkansas sophomore Maria Jose Marin on joining Stacy Lewis and Maria Fassi as Razorbacks winning an NCAA individual championship. Glad to hear there were no unfair pins at that tournament. … Adam Scott has played in 95(!) consecutive majors, a streak that began before Tom Kim was born as Bunkered’s Michael McEwan pointed out. It also began the year after the last time my New York Knicks were in the Eastern Conference Finals. So, yeah, it’s been a LONG time. Exciting time for us Knicks fans—and former Knicks like John Starks!

Go New York, go New York, go! … Similarly, Sergio Garcia saw his 25-year streak of qualifying for the U.S. Open come to an end on Monday. The last time Sergio didn’t play in the tournament was the same month the Knicks were in the NBA Finals. So, let’s hope history repeats itself here. … The band Whiskey Myers will be performing at the LIV Golf Dallas event next month. Funny, Whiskey Myers is what people called me on my bachelor party trip a decade ago:

Can't believe it's been 10 years. Wow. Good times. Well, other than waking up in Myrtle Beach that Sunday morning.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How much beer did Brooks Koepka drink on Friday?

How much beer did Scottie Scheffler drink on Sunday?

How much homemade ravioli could Scottie stuff in the Wanamaker Trophy?