The Grind
Sepp Straka’s courageous haircut, Tiger Woods’ sneaky equipment tidbit and an all-time bunker disaster
Welcome to another year of The Grind, where we’re thinking of starting our own meme currency. Grind Coin has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Why are we thinking of this? Because we need some way to offset our golf gambling losses. Or, at least, some of the losses. When it comes to betting on golf, I’m colder than the weather right now. And it’s currently 6 degrees where I live. Anyway, let’s bundle up and get to what’s happening in golf.
WE’RE BUYING
Sepp Straka: Our fellow soda lover has won again, this time at The American Express. And this time, with with a much different look:

Orlando Ramirez
“I was kind of losing my hair, so I figured I would get in front of it,” said the 31-year-old. “Just go ahead and shave it off.” This goes against George Costanza’s “Live dammit, live!” advice, but that’s true courage right there. Way to embrace that change, Sepp. It certainly didn’t change how Straka strikes a golf ball as he finished second in strokes gained/off the tee on his way to shooting 25 under and holding off Justin Thomas by two for PGA Tour win No. 3.
The only thing we’re selling is Straka’s timing because I bet on him … last week. When he finished T-30. Of course.
Tyrrell Hatton: The Englishman is known to run hot on the golf course, but he’s suddenly the hottest player on the planet as well. Hatton won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and has now gone win, runner-up, sixth, fifth, win in his past five worldwide starts.

Ross Kinnaird
That run has him back up to No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking—despite the fact he plays predominantly on a tour where you can’t earn OWGR points. Impressive stuff. Speaking of impressive things involving LIV …
LIV’s TV deal: I know many out there consider me part of the CORRUPT GOLF MEDIA, but I give credit where credit is due. The Saudi-backed league’s deal with Fox Sports is official—and it’s a pretty significant step forward.
Obviously, LIV wasn’t gaining any traction on the CW—only 88,000 tuned in to see Jon Rahm win the season-ending individual championship last year—but this should help. My only concern is that it might be too little too late. But, no, I’m staying positive. This is an important move for LIV as it ushers in new CEO Scott O’Neil to replace the outgoing Greg Norman. Man, remember when The Shark was part of Fox’s ill-fated U.S. Open broadcast? Can you believe it’s been nearly 10 years since Chambers Bay?! Time flies. Anyway, we’re getting off topic. Getting on Fox Sports is a good move for LIV. No matter what the haterz say.
Blades Brown: The 17-year-old kid phenom made TEN birdies in just his second round as a pro on Friday:
Unfortunately, after a strong start to his third round, Blades wasn’t able to make the cut. But again, he’s 17. And he already broke a record set by Bobby Jones. And his name is BLADES. What is there not to like? Forget about Grind Coin, I might just invest in this young man.
WE’RE SELLING
Slow play: Another year and yet we’re still talking about this. And rightfully so after it took the final group nearly four hours to play 12 holes on Sunday. That’s right, 12 holes. Not 18.
That’s ridiculous. The PGA Tour has vowed that the smaller fields that will go into effect next season will be a big help, but these guys should still be playing faster. And as we’ve seen with TGL, they’re certainly capable of doing so.
More PGA Tour/TGL injuries: As if having Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth sidelined to start the season wasn’t enough, now both Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa are taking time off to heal injuries.
As if things couldn’t look any bleaker for my beloved New York Golf Club. On the bright side, we got a Scottie sighting for the first time and it was a video of him using his GolfForever trainer:
Always be pitching. (Side note: I’ve been trying one out myself lately and I’m a fan.) Scheffler told the media on a Zoom call promoting the Arnold Palmer Invitational that he’s “on schedule” to make his return soon, possibly at Pebble Beach next week, and that he suffered his injury while “making homemade ravioli.” And this is why I don’t do any cooking.
Getting stuck in a bunker: Rookie William Mouw got quite an interesting introduction to the PGA Tour playing PGA West’s infamous giant bunker on Friday. The 23-year-old Pepperdine product was cruising along when disaster struck. And it wound up taking him 13 shots to play the 16th hole at the Stadium Course:
More like William OW, am I right? Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway, add another victim to Pete Dye’s (long) list. But Mouw handled the tough situation well. “I’m proud of myself,” he said after shooting 67 the next day. “I didn’t have a 13 today.” Well played, Will.
ON TAP
The PGA Tour season continues its California Swing at the Farmers Insurance Open, AKA that one they play at Torrey Pines. Although, it seems like we might be saying that again in a few weeks if that’s where the Genesis Invitational ends up moving. Anyway, this used to be the unofficial start to the PGA Tour season, but as mentioned above, this year’s tournament is being ravaged by injuries to star players, in particular Collin Morikawa and hometown hero Xander Schauffele. But two guys I bet on last week, Ben Griffin and Eric Cole, are playing. And if you go by what happened the week after I bet on Sepp Straka, maybe it's time to go back to the well with those two …

Random tournament fact: Tiger Woods (seven wins) and Phil Mickelson (three wins) have combined to win this tournament 10 times. Miss those guys playing here. Especially this week.
RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK
—William Mouw will make another 13 this week: 1 MILLION-to-1
—William Mouw will win this week: 400-to-1 odds (Actual odds)
—The pace of play won’t be any better this week: LOCK
TWEET OF THE WEEK
What’s the big deal? Well, Tiger has technically only been on Bridgestone’s staff since 2016. Which is obviously not 25 years. However, his tweet confirms a badly kept secret that he has been playing Bridgestone balls for a quarter century. Bridgestone was making his Nike golf balls when he won the U.S. Open by 15 shots in 2000 and the following three majors to complete the Tiger Slam and usher in the pro game's switch to a solid core from a wound ball. Super interesting, right? Well, a lot of golf geeks found it super interesting. Anyway, that's the story.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
I’m sick of snow already, but that’s a cool photo.
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (ON-COURSE DIVISION)
Johnson Wagner’s hands-on segments got off to a great start in 2025:
How much would William Mouw have paid for that “skull shank” to five feet?
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (OFF-COURSE DIVISION)
The DP World Tour is at it once again, this time creating this funny video on “Influencer Training”:
Very well done.
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (PROMO DIVISION)
And one tour pro who doesn’t need any influencer training is Phil Mickelson, who shines in this ad for Primo joggers, which is now sponsoring Phil’s Hy-Flyers:
At 54, Mickelson still has his comedic fastball—and his adonis calves.
THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS
Carlos Alcaraz was seen working on his golf swing ahead of his big Australian Open match against Novak Djokovic:
Unfortunately, Alcaraz lost in four sets. But he’ll now have more time Down Under to get in some work on the golf course.
THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION
Aww. We weren't kidding about Sepp being a fellow soda lover! Although I still don't get people who choose Diet Coke over Coke Zero. To each his own, though!
THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION(?)
Adam, you probably don't want to hear from someone who slipped down his steps wearing socks recently, but be careful. Especially because you need your legs to make a living.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I think we’re living in a golden era right now for golf where the possibilities are endless.” —Jon Rahm. From a guy who signed a deal with LIV Golf for a reported $300 million to $500 million, yeah, we are definitely in a golden era.
THIS AND THAT
Taylor Moore became the first PGA Tour player to go bogey-free for 72 holes and not win since Joaquin Niemann at the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic. So, congrats, we guess? … A definite congrats to 21-year-old San Diego State star Justin Hastings on winning the Latin America Amateur Championship to earn an invite to the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, U.S. Amateur and British Amateur. That’s a lot of invites. … Congrats as well to Ernie Els on beating Bernhard Langer and others at the PGA Tour Champions season opener. The Big Easy will not get an invite to Augusta, but he now has seven career senior tour titles. … TGL got a 9-percent boost in the ratings from Tiger Woods, averaging more than 1 million viewers for the second match. To sustain that, though, they’re probably going to need a competitive match at some point. … And, finally, I did it. I got my girls hooked on the Costco hot dog:

Still the best lunch deal around. And it’s not even close.
RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER
How many Costco hot dogs have I eaten in my life?
How many tries would it take to get out of that big bunker?
How do I even buy crypto?