A tearful Ryder Cup snub, Viktor Hovland’s amazing ace celebration and the biggest gambling upset in golf history

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we’ve noticed a troubling trend lately: Everyone is playing golf. Of course, this is great for us at Golf Digest, but it’s not as good for me in my neck of the woods with limited public course options based on the number of people in the New York metro area. Tee sheets are always packed a week out, and now I routinely face waits like this at the driving range:

It’s tough out there. I’m all for growing the game, but in my area, we really need to focus on growing the game’s public facilities. I (eventually) got a mat and randomly was hitting high, sweeping draws with the driver. So, call me Rory MyersIlroy. Or not. I’ll work on a new nickname. In the meantime, let’s talk about everything else going on in the world of golf.

WE’RE BUYING

Thriston Lawrence: The big South African won his second Omega European Masters and a fifth career DP World Tour title overall. And he may have altered the European Ryder Cup team in the process (More on that later):

Switzerland has to be near the top of the list when it comes to trips that WAGs of professional golfers like making. Anyway, congrats to Thriston. And this could go a long way toward him altering the International Presidents Cup team for next year.

Miranda Wang: The 26-year-old LPGA Tour rookie picked up her maiden title at the FM Championship. And she did it by holding off World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul.

Impressive stuff. And it was good to see TPC Boston again. Also, I recognized the name because it was Wang who won the deciding point for Duke against Wake Forest in the 2019 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. Just another in a long line of heartbreaking defeats by my alma mater.

Keegan Bradley’s selflessness: How about this guy? Two years after being the biggest snub from Team USA, he made himself the biggest snub once again. What a noble move by a guy who clearly deserved a spot on the squad.

Instead, he’ll have to settle for wearing the walkie-talkie and driving around a golf cart at Bethpage Black in his red, white and blue. And as someone looking to lead a team, he couldn’t have come up with a better way to fire up his guys than putting the team over himself.

WE’RE SELLING

Keegan Bradley not being on the team: That being said, it stinks Captain Keegan won’t get to play in the event he wants to play in most. And it’s pretty ironic that being named captain is what ultimately kept him off the squad.

As Bradley has noted, you only get so many chances—and there’s a good chance this could be the last chance for the 39-year-old. And I get that it’s a far different event than when Arnold Palmer was playing captain in 1963. And that the Ryder Cup is a bigger deal than the Presidents Cup, which Tiger Woods did just fine as a player-captain in 2019. But I think he could have done both duties well. That being said, we’ve seen how much Zach Johnson gets heckled now for being a losing Ryder Cup captain, so just imagine the reaction to someone being a losing Ryder Cup captain who picked himself to play on that losing team? Rough. At least, Keegan doesn’t have to worry about that now.

Matt Wallace getting snubbed: Again. Man, this was tough to watch on Sunday because you knew the Englishman probably needed to win in Switzerland to have any chance of making Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team. And he basically confirmed that with this emotional interview after finishing runner-up in which he could barely get any words out through the tears:

Poor guy. Although, that was also me having bet on Wallace to win before the tournament started. Anyway, Wallace won three times during his first full year on the DP World Tour in 2018 and didn’t make the team either. And that snub has fueled him ever since. “It’s such a driver for me,” Wallace told Bunkered Magazine last month. “When I go in the gym and my trainer says ‘Ryder Cup’ whenever I’m flagging, I get a buzz and I go hard and I go again.” So, you can only imagine how crushed he is now—and how motivated he is to finally make the squad in 2027.

The Dormy Open oddsmakers: For once, the handicappers were off. Way, WAY off. Danish pro Anders Emil Ejlersen won this Hotel Planner Tour (Europe’s version of the Korn Ferry Tour) event and it was a total shock considering he was listed as 2,000-to-1 odds ahead of the tournament.

Emil Ejlersen jumped from No. 1,429 to No. 615 in the Official World Golf Ranking with the victory. And, according to longtime golf gambling guru John Rhodes, this might just be the biggest upset in golf history:

If anyone out there actually bet on this guy, please let me know. Because I want to (virtually) shake your hand.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour takes another week off, the LPGA is taking the week off and LIV Golf remains off. It’s almost as if these tours are celebrating Labor Week instead of Labor Day. But don’t worry, golf fans, you’ve still got the Amgen Irish Open on the DP World Tour, the Stifel Charity Classic on the PGA Tour Champions and the Walker Cup out at Cypress Point (in prime time!). And I’ve got a rare weekend tee time lined up at Hudson National Hills Golf Club Course. Hey, I’ll take what I can get.

Random tournament fact: The K Club, the site of this year’s Irish Open, is best known for hosting the 2006 Ryder Cup in which Europe routed Team USA four years before Rory McIlroy’s Ryder Cup debut. Rory won the Irish Open the first time the K Club hosted it in 2016. The course also hosted the tournament in 2023 when Vincent Norrman held off Hurly Long (Great name!) by a stroke.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Keegan Bradley won’t miss playing in the Ryder Cup: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Rory McIlroy will win a second Irish Open title at the K Club: 7-to-2 odds

—Rory McIlroy will have the biggest crowds at the K Club: LOCK

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Ben An was asked about possibly being the best player on the PGA Tour without a win now that Tommy Fleetwood has left the club and he responded with this hilarious analogy:

Hang in there, Ben. You’ll find yourself a nice, shiny PGA Tour trophy to settle down with one of these days. Speaking of trophies …

PHOTO(S) OF THE WEEK

We’re focused on a pair of amazing prizes this week. First, this giant crocodile-head trophy given out for winning the PGA of Australia's Northern Territory PGA Championship:

Hope that guy has a big mantel to put that thing on. And then there’s this axe given out for winning the PGA Tour Americas’ CRMC Championship:

Both are fantastic conversation pieces.

VIRAL VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK

We’ve got a pair of aces to share. First, Charlie Woods continued his impressive year with a hole-in-one at TPC Sawgrass during the final round of the Junior Players:

Talk about acting like you’ve been there before! The 16-year-old finished T-31 for the event while Miles Russell added another title to his incredible junior golf résumé. And then there was Viktor Hovland making a hole-in-one and acting how you’d expect a 16-year-old to react to making an ace:

You love to see it.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (TOUR PRO DIVISION)

Mike Lorenzo-Vera announced his retirement from pro golf after two decades for mental health reasons in April, but he planned to play one final event at the Omega European Masters. And at one of the most beautiful venues, he gave golf fans one of the most beautiful sights as he played the final hole of his career with his kids by his side:

We wish this guy the best!

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (AMATEUR DIVISION)

Having a girlfriend who is a senior content producer for the PGA Tour paid off for one guy, who got his own hype video ahead of his first buddies golf trip:

Yeah, she’s a keeper.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Again, EVERYONE is playing golf these days because the game is so hot so there’s a lot here. Let’s start with Andy Murray draining a walk-off bomb at St. Andrews:

And not to be outdone, Rob Riggle made a long putt as well at Spanish Bay:

These guys must be great scramble partners. And then there was Kevin Hart, following LeBron James a few weeks ago, taking up the game.

Is there any celebrity who doesn’t play golf anymore?!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Beat us again … if you can.” —Ernie Els issuing a challenge to Tiger Woods regarding playing on the PGA Tour Champions next year. Careful what you wish for, Ernie!

THIS AND THAT

Congrats to Mike McCoy on becoming the first player to win both the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and the U.S. Senior Amateur. Am I crazy, or is it pretty crazy no one has done that before? Anyway, what an amazing accomplishment by Mike “The Real” McCoy. … Congrats to the Travelers Championship on winning Newsweek’s fans’ choice award for best PGA Tour event. Of course, that’s no surprise in these parts where we refer to the Travelers as the fifth major. … Sergio Garcia was a late WD from the Irish Open after citing disappointment that he was left off the European Ryder Cup team. No, this is not a joke. … And, finally, the first day of school has arrived again. And for the first time, both girls got on the bus together to go to elementary school!

Time really does fly.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How much will Tiger Woods play on the senior tour?

How much will Charlie Woods play on any tour?

Does anyone want to invest in a Westchester golf course/range?