Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we might never fly anywhere again after having multiple flights delayed and canceled on our way back home from the HGGA Championship and having to stay the night in Detroit. That being said, it helps when you’re strutting around the airport in a green jacket:
That’s right, I won it again. With green jacket No. 6, I passed Tiger and joined Jack. And, yes, I think my group is starting to get sick of it. Anyway, what a week in Michigan (more on that in a bit) and I’ll have to hope that someday, our golf group will have a chartered flight like the John Deere Classic provides its players. In the meantime, let’s celebrate my latest big win—oh, and talk about some (other) golf.
Brian Campbell: This guy is putting together one of the strangest seasons in golf history. Campbell has only finished in the top 30 twice on the PGA Tour in 2025 but, somehow, has won both of those times with the latest victory coming at the John Deere Classic.
Even crazier? He’s the shortest hitter on tour. By far. Having an average swing speed of 108 miles per hour and ranking dead last in ball speed at 161 mph. Of course, I—and 95 percent of normal golfers—would kill for those numbers, but it’s pretty wild he can compete with them. Well, compete twice during a full season. Anyway, hope he enjoyed that chartered flight across the pond. Must be nice.
Lottie Woad: Still an amateur, Woad not only won the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, she dominated with a six-shot victory.
And yet, the rising senior at Florida State who won the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur still won’t be turning pro. “No, I’m not tempted to turn pro yet,” she said after the LET win. “I’m still trying to get my final two points for the LPGA. I’m trying to get those and then we will see what happens after that.” Sorry to spoil the suspense, but what happens after that is that she’s going to win on the LPGA Tour. A lot.
Forest Dunes: Our group’s first venture to the Great Lakes State began with a fun round at the University of Michigan’s Alister Mackenzie course, but we then drove three hours north and settled down at this resort. And when you factor in everything including price and weather and the fact that your room is like 100 yards from all the action including the Bootlegger (Great name!) short course, it might be the best destination our group has gone to in 32 years. The Toms (Weiskopf and Doak) really outdid themselves with this property. Forest Dunes (Weiskopf) lived up to its lofty billing and The Loop—Doak’s reversible course that plays clockwise on half the days and counterclockwise the other half—blew our minds (All three courses are in our America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses list, although I’d rank them all higher.) You can’t believe how it works or how distinct and pure these two tracks are until you’re there:
Maybe the coolest course(s) I’ve ever played. Like the USGA has announced in recent years, I’m hoping the HGGA makes this an anchor site for future trips. Also, after winning in Wisconsin and Michigan, they are calling me “Midwest Myers.” (OK, so I dubbed myself that, but it works!)
Playing against Brian Campbell in a playoff: Again, when this guy gets a chance to win, he seizes it. Campbell is now two for two in playoffs this year after beating Emiliano Grillo on the first extra hole at the John Deere and taking down Aldrich Potgeiter—who happens to be the longest hitter on tour—in Mexico. So Campbell is the last guy you want to see if you’re tied for the lead after 72 holes.
And he’s quickly become a nightmare for gamblers betting on his opponents as well.
Those are tough beats. Speaking of gambling …
Losers sending tour pros Venmos requests: I didn’t realize this was a thing until Scottie Scheffler said he deleted his Venmo account because of it. Although in Scottie’s case, he was often being sent money for helping people win bets. After a close call at the John Deere, though, Max Homa shared a couple of the nasty messages he received from angry bettors, including a request for $1,900 because he “can’t putt under pressure.”
Really pathetic stuff. It’s hard to blame Max for wanting to take a break from Twitter after seeing those. That being said, there are just as many “assholes” out there on Instagram.
This pre-shot routine: We all deal with demons out there, so in a way I feel for this guy. But c’mon … you gotta play (much) faster than this:
And this is an extreme, but it’s honestly amazing how slow most golfers play. I somewhat get it for the tour pros who are playing for their jobs, but I’m talking about weekend 18-handicappers who emulate those guys. It’s ridiculous.
The PGA Tour continues with its two-week trans-Atlantic Swing beginning with the Genesis Scottish Open, AKA that one they play the week before the British Open that also feels like a major. The LPGA will have its fourth (of five) majors in France at the Amundi Evian Championship and LIV Golf will be in Spain. Sadly, fans (and my golf gang) will have to wait another 12 months for the 2026 HGGA Championship, but at least I have my high school golf group’s annual getaway in October at Hilton Head. And I’m already counting down the days. No, really. It’s 86 and counting.
Random tournament fact: Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre has finished runner-up and winner at the past two Scottish Opens. He might be a bigger hero in his home country than William Wallace.
RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK
—I won’t wear my green jacket around the house this week: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Robert MacIntyre will win again this week: 30-to-1 odds
—Robert MacIntyre will draw the loudest cheers no matter how he plays: LOCK
Jake Knapp’s girlfriend continues to rise the ranks of Golf Twitter:
Sorry, Brian Campbell. Like that old Nike commercial with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine says, “Chicks dig the long ball.”
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (FIGHT DIVISION)
This is the most lopsided golf fight we’ve ever seen. And we’ve seen a LOT of these golf fights through the years.
That dude took a licking and kept on ticking, but what a licking it was. He got shoved into a pond, tossed like a rag doll and punched repeatedly. Even worse, his opponent yelled “BANG!” every time he hit him. It doesn’t get much more humiliating than that. Hopefully, he (eventually) walked away on his own.
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (MEDIA DIVISION)
This cool video captured NBC’s Dan Hicks and Kevin Kisner in the booth reacting to J.J. Spaun’s amazing putt to win the U.S. Open:
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (MEDIA-ON-VACATION DIVISION)
And then there were legendary announcers, Joe Buck and Jim Nantz, playing a round together with their sons. And Nantz dropping a perfect, “Hello, friends”:
So good. Speaking of fathers and sons …
THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION
Loved this from Tiger and Charlie at the North & South Junior:
Apparently, “giving the needle” is hereditary.
THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS
LeBron James must actually be getting close to retiring from the NBA because it looks like he’s finally taken up golf.
And we love to see it. Although, we’d like to see a shorter pre-shot routine. But overall, this is awesome. And as Stephen Curry said, it’s about time.
Is there a super celebrity that does NOT play golf now? Talk about growing the game! Golf, so hot right now. Golf. Case in point this interaction between Carlos Alcaraz and Golf Digest friend Tom Holland:
Talk about worlds colliding! And it’s all because of golf. Best game on the planet.
“I drank a little bit more than I normally do, that was probably the biggest change that I had in my life was trending towards an alcoholic.” —Xander Schauffele on how winning the British Open changed his life. And now I’m kinda glad I had that sobering airport experience after winning my annual major.
Kipp Popert, who was born with cerebral palsy, shot an 11-under-par 61 in the opening round of the U.S. Adaptive Open as he tries for a three-peat in that event. No offense to all the PGA Tour pros out there, but that’s the round of the year. … Collin Morikawa has linked up with looper Billy Foster for the Scottish and British Opens. And this time there was no testy exchange with the golf media about it. … Congrats to Kellen Farnham, son of my man Sean Farnham at ESPN, on winning his first golf tournament. And it won’t be the last with that swing. … Congrats to colleague Stina Sternberg on making a hole-in-one on July 4th!
Talk about fireworks! … And, finally, in addition to winning a sixth green jacket (in case I didn’t mention that enough), I also had my first ever BLT on naan bread at Forest Dunes:
RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER
What’s the best kind of bread?
What percentage of flights get delayed/canceled?
When can I go back to Forest Dunes?
