Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we start with a story. Twenty-four years ago, a clueless freshman at Wake Forest went to see a writer speak in the student center auditorium because he had liked watching him on “The Sports Reporters” and loved one of his golf books. The talk was entertaining. It was illuminating. And it was inspiring. The speaker that day? John Feinstein, who signed my copy of “A Good Walk Spoiled” after. My buddy Jim Gleitman and I were so jazzed up that we immediately went upstairs and signed up to write for the school newspaper, the Old Gold and Black. So needless to say, it was sad to hear of the sportswriting legend’s sudden passing last week.
John Feinstein, one of the most prolific sportswriters in the history of American journalism and a longtime contributor to Golf Digest, passed away on Thursday.
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) March 14, 2025
There is a very, very good chance I wouldn’t be typing these words in this column if it weren’t for hearing John speak that day. And I was fortunate enough to rub elbows with him at a few majors, have him on the podcast a couple times, and thank the prolific writer for his role in starting my own career. I also treasure the fact he named the protagonist “Alex Myers” in his series of young adult books. Pretty sure he just liked the name (Who wouldn’t?), but I’ll take it as a compliment. Anyway, RIP—and thanks—to one of the all-time greats. OK, let’s talk some golf because I know that’s what John would want, too.
WE’RE BUYING
Rory McIlroy: With all the amazing golf this guy has played, it’s scary to think this might be the best—or, at least, most complete (nice work by our Jamie Kennedy on that)—version we’ve ever seen. McIlroy didn’t have his A (or even B) game off the tee at TPC Sawgrass (Although that first drive in the Monday playoff was an A+) and yet he still managed to win a second Players title.
Ben Jared
He also became the first player to win the Players after watching . . . “The Devil Wears Prada”? Yep. True story. At least, the first player to admit that. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s a good movie. And I love this graphic our Greg Gottfried created:
It’s also the first time he’s won two PGA Tour titles before April. Setting up . . . well, you know. But before we start focusing on the Masters, let’s give the guy his flowers. Sure, this doesn’t technically end the 10-year major drought, but do you realize this guy has won 19 times PGA Tour titles, including his two Players and three FedEx Cups since that most recent major win at the 2014 PGA? That’s a surefire HALL-OF-FAME career since that time. I know Brooks Koepka has taken a 5-4 lead in majors, but McIlroy’s overall resume makes him hands down the best golfer of this generation. OK, now we can talk about the Masters and start wondering: Is it (finally) his time? Considering this is the third time McIlroy has won on St. Patrick’s Day, it’s too bad for him that they don’t give out the green jacket a month earlier.
The underdogs: Shout-out to J.J. Spaun who played 72 of the best holes under pressure you’ll ever see. The three-hole playoff looked more like something we saw at the Creator Classic, but seriously, really impressive stuff. And it’s no fluke as Spaun is the only PGA Tour player with three top-three finishes in 2025. You also have to feel bad for him on that tee shot on 17 on Monday. The dude swears he thought he stuffed it.
Richard Heathcote
I couldn’t help having flashbacks to Paul Goydos, one of John Feinstein’s favorite subjects, finding the water there in his 2008 playoff with Sergio Garcia. Like Russell Henley said last week, “Sometimes golf is just mean like that.” Anyway, shout-out to Bud Cauley and Danny Walker as well. Two guys who barely made it into the field at TPC Sawgrass, but earned life-changing paychecks. Feinstein would have loved to write about these underdogs as well.
Joaquin Niemann: The 26-year-old Chilean continues to play great golf on LIV, winning the league’s Singapore event by five shots over Brooks Koepka for his second victory in four starts this year.
Thananuwat Srirasant
He is clearly one of the top 15 (10?) golfers on the planet right now. That being said, the LIV-ers are getting a bit crazy right now. In particular, Phil Mickelson:
Top 5?
Try #1— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 16, 2025
Again, nothing against Niemann. He’s a great player. But let’s see him contend at a major—heck, just finish top 15 at a major—before we start putting him ahead of guys like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy!
WE’RE SELLING
Rory’s response to heckler: First things first, the fan in question, Luke Potter, was wrong to shout something at Rory. Especially considering he’s one of the best college golfers in the country and he should know better. That being said, I think it’s a bit much that the guy is being treated like a serious criminal. For referencing a golf shot that happened 14 years ago during a practice round. And it’s crazy that Rory hasn’t taken much criticism—at least, from the media—for, you know TAKING THE GUY’S PHONE. And then walking away with it.
Texas golfer shouted “just like 2011 at Augusta” after Rory hit it in the water on his first ball and after his second shot Rory did this. What a crash out 😂 @stoolpresidente @ziregolf pic.twitter.com/UtHdO4UNOg
— Ganix Gabinus (@gabinus_ganix) March 12, 2025
That was a wild scene. And while I’m sypathetic to athletes having to put up with dopes in the crowd, two wrongs don’t make a right. And an athlete in another sport doing this would have faced far more blowback than what Rory got. OK, let’s move on. Well, to another thorny issue, that is . . .
Collin Morikawa’s response to critics: Morikawa isn’t the first athlete to duck the media (Rory peeled out of the Pinehurst parking lot last year looking like an F1 driver) after a close loss. But that doesn’t make it right. That being said, myself and others (most notably Rocco Mediate who went OFF on the young star) had more of a problem with how Morikawa handled the aftermath. He not only doubled down on the decision, but tripled down by calling out his critics and saying he signed autographs instead.
"I don't regret anything I said."
Collin Morikawa pushed back against the criticism he's received for not speaking to the media after his runner-up finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. pic.twitter.com/1gT7jd0RMQ
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) March 14, 2025
Anyway, Shane Ryan wrote about this better than I could so check that out. And it would have been interesting to hear the thoughts of John Feinstein (who Shane also wrote beautifully about) on the situation at Augusta next month. Sigh.
Tiger’s latest injury: This is old news now, but it happened shortly after I filed The Grind last week so I didn’t get to address it. Am I surprised that the 15-time major (and way-more-time-operated-on) champ is injured again? No. Am I still sad about it? Yes.
As I began to ramp up my own training and practice at home, I felt a sharp pain in my left Achilles, which was deemed to be ruptured.
This morning, Dr. Charlton Stucken of Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida performed a minimally-invasive Achilles tendon… pic.twitter.com/KAVZfcRxlE
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) March 11, 2025
Incredibly, the next time we see Tiger tee it up in an official event, it could be on the Senior Tour. Time flies when you’re having fun, huh?
Pat Perez’s house: As in, the LIV star is selling his “one-of-a-kind” mansion in Scottsdale for $12.75 million. And after writing one post about this, Zillow now thinks I’m a millionaire:
LOL “Take the next step. . . ” Anyway, it was easy to tell from the listing that it was Perez’s house because of this room dedicated to his crazy Air Jordan collection:
I’m guessing the shoes aren’t part of the deal.
ON TAP
The Florida Swing continues with the Valspar Championship, AKA that one with the SNAKE PIT, AKA that “other PGA Tour event” in Florida. However, that last part is not the case this year. Golf fans coming down off a Players high will be glad to know this year’s Valspar has a fantastic field. And following LIV’s Asian Tour, the DP World Tour embarks on one of its own with the Porsche Singapore Classic.
Random tournament fact: Vijay Singh’s 18-under-par total from his five-shot win in 2004 at the then Chrysler Classic is still the tournament scoring record two decades later. 2004 Vijay Singh was an absolute monster.
RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK
—Rory McIlroy will take a phone from an Augusta patron: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Rory McIlroy will win the Masters this year: 7-to-1 odds (Actual odds)
—Rory McIlroy will take heat from his critics if he doesn’t: LOCK
TWEET OF THE WEEK (GOLFER DIVISION)
https://twitter.com/Mike_kim714/status/1900941834097926594
Even when Michael Kim has a bad week (for him) on the course, he still cooks on Twitter.
TWEET OF THE WEEK (GOLF WIFE DIVISION)
Dropping Adam at Sawgrass this morning and driving by a group about to tee off on 1
Me (trying to lighten the golf mood): look at these losers having to work on the weekend
Adam: [silence]
Me: pic.twitter.com/GmbBAqKe7L
— Jessica Hadwin (@jessicahadwin) March 15, 2025
Golf Twitter is a helluva place.
TWEET OF THE WEEK (GOLF WRITER DIVISION)
TRACKER FIGHT 🚨 🚨 🚨 pic.twitter.com/iIxCLlL2Zd
— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) March 16, 2025
Like I said, Golf Twitter is a helluva place.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Just when you think you’ve seen it all at TPC Sawgrass’ 17th hole, something like this happens:
OK, so the video of Alex Smalley’s shot on Sunday was even crazier:
Golf is a cruel roller-coaster. pic.twitter.com/AAJ9xHAiCG
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 16, 2025
The island green always delivers.
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (TOUR PRO DIVISION)
J.J. Spaun pausing in the middle of his Monday’s press conference to watch and analyze that shot that sunk him in the playoff was quite a scene:
J.J. Spaun couldn't believe his tee shot found the water on 17 during the playoff. 😳
He saw it for the first time during his press conference. pic.twitter.com/QMSw0VWRT0
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) March 17, 2025
I keep saying poor guy to myself, but the dude still took home $2.725 million. Good for him. Great week, just a tough finish.
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (FORMER TOUR PRO DIVISION)
Oz the Mentalist blew the minds of the “Live From” crew at TPC Sawgrass—and for good reason:
Oz the Mentalist had everyone on our Live From set STUNNED after reading Johnson Wagner's mind. 🤯🪄 #THEPLAYERS pic.twitter.com/qY85EVrW65
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) March 15, 2025
That really is scorcery. It’s also pretty wild that Johnson Wagner would say 255 yards with a TIGHT DRAW. Golfers are hilarious.
THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (FOR THEMSELVES)
Charley Hull announced she’s made a $10,000 bet with English tour pro Ryan Evans that she won’t smoke . . . for two months.
https://twitter.com/NUCLRGOLF/status/1901689483986125184
Good for you, Charley. Bad for the content folks who love posting every time she smokes on the golf course.
THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS
President Donald Trump announced that he won the 27th club championship at one of his golf courses:
President Trump just won the Club Championship at Trump International Golf Club 🇺🇸🔥👏 pic.twitter.com/Y01bxiTful
— Tour Golf (@PGATUOR) March 16, 2025
Phil Mickelson probably has him No. 2 behind Niemann in his version of the Official World Golf Ranking.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I have no God-honest control of my golf swing, and I don’t know where the golf ball is going right now so I’m trying to get into the house as fast as I can.”—Billy Horschel with maybe the most relatable golf quote ever uttered by a PGA Tour winner. Not surprisingly, the clip went viral:
Some real honesty from @BillyHo_Golf mid-round 😅 pic.twitter.com/pFUlj2mBPP
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 15, 2025
I had that sent to me on three different text chains. What an instant classic.
THIS AND THAT
Another RIP, this time to Junior Bridgeman, a former NBA player who made a fortune with Wendy’s and Chili’s franchises and bottling/distributing Coca-Cola. Talk about my all-time dream life. He was also a former PGA of America board member and a part-owner of Valhalla Golf Club. Wish I had connected with this legend at some point. . . . Phil Mickelson also tweeted a “hot take” that Scottie Scheffler won’t win before the Ryder Cup this fall. I’d love to bet Phil on that, but I don’t think I could afford it. . . . And, finally, happy seventh(!) birthday to my oldest daughter, Julia, who wanted to clean up at her own party:
What a sweetheart. Although, that’s something I probably wouldn’t have bet on happening.
RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER
How much would I have to bet against Phil Mickelson?
How many words did John Feinstein type in his life?
What would I be doing instead if I didn’t go to that talk?
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
