We're Rooting for Mackenzie Hughes, Russell Henley & Matthew Wolff to Win the U.S. Open

Why are we rooting for Mackenzie Hughes to win the U.S. Open? Because he’s Canadian and Canadians are nice people. Plus, they rarely ever win on the PGA tour. In addition, Hughes has overcome adversity - once losing his tour card before regaining it five years ago. Outside of his own friends and family, nobody is cheering for Mac. While the last two months have not been kind to Hughes (missed cuts in five straight events) he’s played well this week and is on the verge of winning The Open.

That makes him a solid underdog and a golfer we are pulling for today.

Russell Henley is another rootable player. While he had some early success in his first year on tour - winning the Sony Open by a record margin - he has not won as often as many had predicted when he graduated from the University of Georgia ten years ago. Now a 100-1 shot to win any tournament he enters, Henley is also a guy we can get behind.

While technically not an underdog, Matthew Wolff is easy to root for because of his entertaining and unconventional golf swing. He’s also talked about his struggles with depression and anxiety.

We are definitely not rooting for Bryson DeChambeau because he is a weasel. A VERY LARGE weasel, but a weasel nonetheless.

Remember: we are all underdogs when we step on the golf course. Our golf hats instill golfers with the calm resilience they need to play well.

Epilogue: Unfortunately, Hughes, Henley, and Wolff struggled during the final round and fell out of contention. It is hard to ignore the fact that they did so while wearing PING, Titleist, and Taylor Made hats. One cannot help but wonder how they would have faired wearing our Go-Lo, On in Regulation, or Birddha hats.

Chesson Hadley's Very Bad Day

Chesson Hadley, who has not won on tour in seven years, was on the verge of winning the Palmetto Championship at Congaree, but he couldn’t keep it together during the latter half of his final round and let an opportunity he may not get for another seven years, slip through his fingers.

Sometimes golfers in Hadley’s position catch an unlucky break during the finishing stretch, such as finding their ball in a divot or a buried lie, or knocked down by a sudden gust of wind. If that was the case with Hadley we wouldn’t be writing about him. It wasn’t an epic and sudden collapse at a golf major like Jean Van de Velde at the British Open. Rather, it was a slow, steady folding of the tent.

After opening with a -6 round, Hadley began backsliding. Still, he entered the final round with a 4 stroke lead on the field. Watching his play during the closing holes one could see it was a clear case of his nerves simply unravelling. You can easily identify with what golfers are going through in these situations. Desperate and feeling cornered you look for any way to stop the bleeding. The mind races and you start seeing things, and in Hadley’s case, he saw fire ants. Lots and lots of fire ants. So many, in fact, that he claimed he ought to get relief (from a rather dicey lie). The rule official disagreed, “I don’t see any.” And with that, Hadley’s fate was sealed. Bryson DeChambeau, another guy who’s always trying to bend the rules in his favor, has also played the “fire ant” card, to no avail.

Our recommendation to Hadley - and any other golfer who happens to be leading entering the final round is this: Ditch the Titleist, Callaway, Nike, and Taylor Made golf hats before you tee off and replace them with our Back 9 golf hat. Chances are you won’t have to go looking for fire ants.

Lastly, congrats to underdog and Monday qualifier, Broc Everett, who kept it together and cashed a nice check for $33,000.

Lee Westwood & The Players Championship

Justin Thomas played a great couple of closing rounds to win The Players, setting a record in the process for strokes below par for the final rounds. But Thomas is no golf underdog so we’re not going to focus on him.

Instead, we’re going to use this space to applaud Lee Westwood, who has spent most of his career as a favorite, but at 47 years of age, is now squarely in the “Underdog” camp. After nearly winning at Bay Hill the week prior, Westwood went toe-to-toe with Thomas and the 240 lb cyborg, DeChambeau, and almost pulled off a stunner. Had Thomas’ tee shot on 18 found the water, Westwood may well have won the tournament.

What makes his near win all the more remarkable is not just the 20 year age difference, but what it means in terms of preparation for the final round. We have a feeling Thomas pops out of bed, pops a dip between his tongue and lip, to go along with a black coffee, while DeChambeau has a 12 egg omelet and six protein shakes. Westwood’s day, however, likely began - before getting out of his oxygen-rich hyperbaric chamber - with a series of neck and ankle rolls, followed by tea, fresh fruit, and bran flakes.

Let’s see how long Westwood can keep his re-birth going.

Moving day at the Masters

There are lots of story lines we could write about the 2020 Masters. Abraham Ancer contending in his first appearance, former Buddist monk, Jazz Janewattananond, nearly posting the the same score as the current PGA Championship and U.S. Open winners, or Jason Day and Matthew Wolff being outplayed by Larry Mize, who is close to qualifying for Medicare. However, the most interesting development has to be 63 year-old Bernhard Langer making the cut. A remarkable achievement for a player who continues to have a remarkable career.

Also remarkable is Bryson DeChambeau’s penchant for challenging official rulings that go against him. Yesterday, when he could not find his ball after a wayward tee shot, he wanted us to believe he should get a free drop, rather than take a penalty. At the St. Jude invitational, he debated with rules officials for three minutes that he ought to get a free drop because the grass was “swarming” with fire ants (it was not). And at the Memorial, DeChambeau famously protested when not one, but two, rules officials sided against him and his claim that his wayward shot over a fence should be considered in play and qualify for a free drop (he went on to card a 10 on that hole). It’s hard to imagine Bernhard Langer, Mize, Ancer, or most tour players whining like this with such regularity. He could, of course, stop this act and instead wear one of our signature hats, which many people say delivers an immediate, calming effect on their psyche. Keep it together, Bryson.

REAL golf is BACK!

We’ve played four tournaments following the Covid shutdown: the Colonial, the Heritage, The TPC in Connecticut, and the Rocket Mortgage in Detroit.

A few observations:

1) Bryson DeChambeau cannot be considered an “Underdog.” He’s added 30 lbs (in the space of 4-8 weeks) and is now averaging 350+ yards off the tee. We’re sure he’s a nice guy but he’s making a mockery of the game. Golf is a game of fast followers so it would not surprise us to see half the tour turn to “protein” wink…wink…shakes in order to add 30lbs to 50 lbs (because why stop at 30?). Our prediction: a 240 lb Kevin Na will win at East Lake later this year.

2) Unlike DeChambeau, Brendan Todd is a legitimate “Underdog.” Todd - who is half DeChambeau’s weight - has somehow won twice this year (once after missing 13 consecutive cuts!) after considering quitting the game, having developed the yips with his driver (cue Ed McMahon’s “Hiy-yyyo!!”). If you can’t get off the tee (just ask Ian Baker-Finch), you cannot break 90, let alone win events on the PGA. But Todd has done the impossible and overcome his demons. Well done!

3) Webb Simpson won the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town. Not a surprise because Webb Simpson grew up on a Country Club - not unlike most PGA pros. He has been programmed from a very young age, and with all the resources available to him, is going to win golf tournaments. Not an Underdog. But a couple of the players he competed against at the Heritage are legit. Hat tip to Corey Conners and Sepp Straka. Conners because he was almost done with golf were it not for his PGA win last year (out of nowhere) and Sepp Straka for no other reason because how do you not root for a guy named Sepp Straka?

Also notable: the return of golf means the return of Matthew Wolff, which is a cause for celebration.