Welcome back to another installment of What’s Burning At The Killhouse, where we take the temperature of the squad and get some answers to some very important questions.
Majors season has concluded for the men, and we have just one major remaining for the women. What’s one shot from the majors this year that will live in your memory for years to come, and why did it resonate?
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Cody - Rory’s shot into the par-3 15th during the final round of the U.S. Open. There is no way it was going to end up short. And in my heart of hearts, I knew there was no way he way going to hit the green. But the thud followed by the camera work watching it rolling will stick with me for a while. Contrasting that with Bryson’s third shot left of 8 green, or his bunker shot on 18. The final 9 back and forth were all-time.
KVV - Scottie Scheffler’s approach to the 9th green at Augusta on Sunday. Right before it happened, I turned to Kyle Porter and said “I bet he hits this to about a foot.” I am typically terrible at predictions, but it felt like Scheffler was done kidding around. I just had a weird sense he was going to grab hold of the tournament. That’s exactly what happened. He nearly made it, and the ball came to rest six inches from the cup.
Soly - Scottie’s shot into the 9th green on Friday at the Masters is still haunting me. A really tough wind, back left pin, ball below his feet, and he slung it into the back shelf and made the birdie. My Scottie slurping went to an entirely different level having seen that shot in person.
Neil - This may be recency bias, but Scottie Scheffler’s 3-wood into the par 3 17th at Troon on Saturday was among the best golf shots I’ve ever seen. He was one of the few players to hit the green at the 17th, and his 3 wood cut through brutal gusts of wind to end up 4 feet from the hole. Scottie did not win and did not play particularly well at The Open this year, but it’s shots like that that cement him as the best golfer in the world even during weeks when he isn’t in peak form. Scheffler’s ball striking is just different, and this shot was the embodiment of that difference.
Casey - How about three shots in a row all from the same spot? I’m talking Nelly and her 10 on the par-3 12th at Lancaster Country Club during the U.S. Women’s Open. It took her three tries to get the ball to get up and stay up on the green after pitching her second shot out of the back bunker into the front water hazard. Those shots will live in my memory as proof that golf is hard for everyone, not just for the hacks like us who play for fun!
Ben - Bryson’s second shot on #18 at Pinehurst. After the excruciating finish to Rory’s round, Bryson’s punch out was the last glimmer of hope for Rory and the Block Party.
Jordan - Ayaka Furue’s eagle putt to win the Evian. I know there’s a lot of discourse about the merits of the Evian, but Ayaka was absolutely the best player that week – and has shown up big in most of the majors, as well! She’s just one piece of an incredibly stacked contingent from Japan that I’ve gotten a lot of joy from watching.
D.J. - Scottie’s 3-wood into No. 17 on Saturday at The Open. It was 235, playing at least 270 into the wind and cold and Scottie nearly holed it. Obviously, it was Xander’s year at the majors, but as a distance control aficionado, no one made me happier to watch brutally difficult approach shots than Scottie, who seems to pull off about 3 times more of them than anyone else.
Tron - Ludvig’s soggy second shot on into 11 on Sunday in Augusta. I’ll remember that one when he wins there in the next couple years and draws upon what he learned that day. Success is the result of learning from failure.
The political season is upon us. If a presidential candidate asked for your support on the condition that they would use the executive power of the office to change one thing (big or small) within the world of golf, what would you ask they get done in exchange for your endorsement?
Soly - Playing through.
Cody - There are thousands, if not millions of other more important topics that I hope POTUS is focused on, even in this hypothetical world. But I would double down on KVV’s Pace of Play issue below. Even though he plays at a fancy private club in Baltimore.
KVV - Slow play at public courses. I’m convinced the most infuriating feeling in golf is being stuck behind a foursome where players leave their carts without a club to look for balls. I would ask POTUS to appoint a Pace of Play czar who would force players to pass a test outlining simple golf etiquette before they’re allowed to book tee times.
Neil - I would push for a rider or earmark on some big infrastructure bill that reserved money to either fix up or build public par 3 courses in municipal parks around the country. I played the new Golden Gate par 3 course in San Francisco earlier this year. It was a fantastic experience, and I think well-designed short courses like this one are the future of golf, especially in urban areas. In most cities, there is already a par 3 like the newly renovated Golden Gate par 3. New York City has the Flushing Meadow Pitch n’ Putt, which has the location and lights to be a booming business if the course and amenities were renovated (I wrote about this here).
Casey - Since moving to Las Vegas, I have been playing a ton of public golf and seeing a ton of really bad golf etiquette. Driving carts right up to the greens (and leaving them there while putting), not fixing pitch marks on the green, playing from tees that are too far back, having no awareness of where other people are on the hole or course, etc.. Like KVV, I would love for there to be a simple golf etiquette test people need to pass before they can go out by themselves to play.
Ben - Let’s do away with taking off hats before shaking hands after a round. More specifically, running your hand through your sweaty hair before shaking your playing partner's hands. Maybe it is just me and my haircut, but I have always felt that I look like an absolute idiot post-round with gnarly sweaty hat hair. Nothing noble about that look!
Jordan - Mansplainers on the range. The first unsolicited piece of bad swing advice is a $500 fine, then $1000, and so forth.
D.J. - Make the Presidents Cup a mixed-team event with 6 men and 6 women on each side. And please ensure that No Relief From Divots in the Fairway remains the law of the land.
Tron - I would demand that Webb Simpson be locked up at ADX Florence, the Federal Supermax Penitentiary out in Colorado, for the stunts he’s pulled this year between his sponsor exemptions (and his comments about them), skipping non-signature events, attempting to circumvent the governance/nomination process for the PGA Tour board so he could give his spot to Rory, etc. I’m very troubled by it all and believe he needs some time to reflect upon his actions.
Our man D.J. received some unfair criticism for his grilling technique during the U.S. Open last month, and it made us wonder: If you’re grilling something, either for your family or some friends, what’s one of your favorite things to throw on the grill and what do you do (whether it’s a seasoning or marinade or technique) to make sure it kicks ass?
Soly - I haven’t done this in forever and I’m not sure why, but I love the Gordon Ramsey trick of blending in egg yolk into a ground beef patty for burgers. It gives it a lot more volume and holds the ground beef together on the grill a lot better. Damn, now I’m hungry. OK, I’m doing this on Sunday.
Cody - I think it is just the age that the kids are at, but we cook burgers and hot dogs weekly. I have found a great butcher shop in Fort Worth and our blend is dialed. I over-season the patties with the Sand Hills special and let it rock. Boar’s Head dogs for me and Momma, the kids love the cheap stuff. Either way, it is delicious.
KVV - My wife and I have a never-ending tug-of-war over how to cook salmon on the grill. I really like brown sugar and dijon mustard, she really likes a marinade of soy sauce, sesame oil and sherry. Like political candidates trying to win over various parts of the electorate, we are constantly trying
Source: https://nolayingup.com/blog/whats-burning-at-the-killhouse-august-2024-check-in
