It was a moment long coming. Ever since Xander Schauffele reached the PGA Tour in 2015 in 2016 he’s been in contention in the biggest events. He was PGA Tour rookie of the year in 2016-17 and even finished T-5 in the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, his bogey-free 66 in the first round marked the first time a newbie golfer to the Open had ever turned in a clean card...
[Author’s Note: As we all know, the PGA Championsbip is next week at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky. As we also all know, Valhalla sucks. We will all be playing better golf courses next week than the pros will. So while I search for houses in Idaho, I leave you in the capable hands of Ryan Ballengee to handle things over at Golf News Net and here. In the...
A Workingman’s History of Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course —by Jay Flemma, Golf News Net— PITTSFORD, NY – It was cold, grey, windy, and rainy Saturday in Rochester for the third round of the 105th PGA Championship. Indeed, the entire week at Oak Hill Country Club has been blustery with wind whistling through the leaves of the oaks and sycamores and...
After Hot Start, Dustin Johnson Loses Ground in Second Round of PGA Championship at Oak Hill —by Jay Flemma, Golf News Net— PITTSFORD, NY – Never known to be much of a raconteur to begin with, Dustin Johnson beat a hasty and silent retreat from Oak Hill Country Club after a sloppy and disappointing 74 dropped him to 1-over par at the halfway point of the...
Future PGA Championship Venues are Mixed Bag of Masterpieces, Old Favorites, and That Laughable, Ludicrous Valhalla Mess —by Jay Flemma, Golf News Net— PITTSFORD, NY – How wonderful to see Oak Hill polished to its highest shine in perhaps a century or longer. It may never have played better for any major championship. Better still are the broad smiles and...
PITTSFORD, NY – “TRAITOR!” “BACKSTABBER! “HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?” “DISLOYAL!” Those were some of the incendiary comments I had to endure from my upstate New York golf friends back in 2013 when they asked me to compare their beloved Oak Hill to other major championship venues. They did not like hearing that I preferred a long list of courses – Oakmont, Winged Foot...
The Pre-Tournament Zen of Defending PGA Champion Justin Thomas —by Jay Flemma, Golf News Net— PITTSFORD, NY – The undercurrent running throughout this 105th PGA Championship is patience. Oak Hill East a much different golf course than the golfers and patrons have ever seen before, and definitely harder than any of them will have seen it play. The rough...
You are tuned into the right place for all things Rochester, Oak Hill’s East Course, and the 105th PGA Championship coming up May 18-21. We’ll be writing two articles a day Tuesday through Sunday for Golf News Net, we’ll have two hour-long radio shows: one pre-tournament and one post, and we’ll have twice a day radio reports from Thursday...
Justin Thomas roared from seven shots back and passed nine players on Sunday to steal the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills Golf Club in Tulsa Oklahoma. Like Jack Nicklaus used to do so often in his heyday, Thomas rode an electrifying late Sunday charge to surge to 5-under for the tournament, then watched as overnight leader Mito Pereira completed one of the...
With a bogey free 5-under 65 San Francisco-born, Texas native Will Zalatoris surged into the lead at the 104th PGA Championship. The second year pro who was runner up in his first Masters in 2021 took advantage of an unexpected, but favorable change in the weather to fire a 31 on the back nine, including three consecutive birdies at 11-13 in sunny, windless...
Golf architect Perry Maxwell’s life and legacy were, and still are, filled with ironies. You have the southern gentleman banker who moved to the dust bowl of Oklahoma during the Great Depression to raise a family. You have a man who turned to golf design almost has an accident (and at the suggestion of his wife no less) become so proficient he became partners...
Rory McIlroy charged out of the gate at the 2022 PGA Champion like his thoroughbred days of old, carding seven birdies en route to an opening round of 5-under 65 for a one shot lead over Will Zalatoris and John Hoge. 2017 PGA Champion Justin Thomas shot a 3-under 67 and is two shots back, along with Abraham Ancer and Matt Kuchar. Starting on the back nine, McIlroy...
Watch out for the wunderkind…again. Collin Morikawa may have the best attitude of any of the reigning PGA Tour superstars. Here’s a kid – and I choose that word with precision, because 25 is still remarkably young for anyone, and because of the youthful exuberance Morikawa in particular exudes – here’s a kid who won the PGA Championship in...
The Southern Hills Country Club that the touring professional golfers will face in the 2022 PGA Championship will bear only a passing resemblance to the 2007 Southern Hills systematically dismantled by Tiger Woods as he won his 13th major and his fourth Wanamaker Trophy. Happily, Southern Hills will appear far more similar to its origins in 1935-36 when Golden Age...
It’s the dawn of a new era, albeit with strong overtones of our beloved history. The Jay’s Plays Radio Show on Golf News Net and Sirius XM has moved. We are now Jay Flemma Sports Report – JFSR for short. Indeed, all your favorite shows in the GNN radio lineup have been picked up, and you can hear us all on iHeartRadio. (See GNN for the portal.)...