40-yard drives, teaching shake-ups, ex-LIV star’s objections

Welcome again to the Monday End, the place it’s formally too late within the calendar to say “Glad New Yr” so we advocate “Glad TGL Week 2” as an alternative. To the information…

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GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Shortcuts and 40-yard drives.

From a visuals perspective, my favourite gap on the PGA Tour calendar may simply be No. 18 at Waialae Nation Membership. The Sony Open finisher is a dogleg-left par-5 that’s listed at 551 yards on the cardboard. However when you take a extra direct route? It abruptly performs a lot shorter.

Enter Charley Hoffman, who aimed thus far left all week you may [make your own political joke here, I’m staying out of it], taking part in down the tenth gap as an alternative. His reward? Some ridiculously brief second-shot yardages in. Whereas a pleasant drive performed within the conventional path left execs hitting approaches from 190-250 yards, Hoffman’s shortcut left him with wedge. His second shot on Thursday got here from simply 120 yards, whereas Friday got here from 118 and Saturday simply 116. Sunday he laid barely additional again — however nonetheless had simply 185 left. He made three birdies in 4 days within the course of.

So how’d he do it? Tom Hoge — who bombed one 326 yards down No. 10 on Friday, had lower than 150 left and made eagle — posted a photograph to Twitter explaining the road.

“Gap 10,” he wrote in a subsequent reply. “Fairway. Excellent.”

Different success tales concerned taking the left-most line, like Camilo Villegas making straightforward birdie from 150.

However there have been additionally nightmares.

A part of the outlet’s magnificence — and we’re referring to pleasant chaos right here moderately than some terrific architectural ethos — is in simply how dangerous issues can get when you don’t pull off the tee shot.

By my depend, 4 drives did not clear the 160-yard mark — extraordinarily uncommon for a PGA Tour par-5 — every presumably clipping a tree close to the tee field. (We’re trusting ShotLink right here, and guessing on the tree hassle.)

Ryan Gerard aimed left within the fourth spherical and drove it simply 158 yards down the left facet, leaving himself with a 330-yard strategy from the flawed gap. He wound up making bogey and slipping to T37 — whereas birdie would have landed him T21.

Sahith Theegala hit only a 107-yard tee shot within the third spherical, leaving himself with almost 370 yards for his second. He’d make par and finally end T37, too.

Stephan Jaeger hit the shortest drive of the second spherical, touring simply 119 yards and leaving himself 360. No worries — he made birdie! The German professional wound up T3, only a shot outdoors the playoff.

After which there was Patton Kizzire, a previous champion on the Sony, who was taking part in No. 18 in his first spherical of the week and hit one which completed simply 40 yards from the place it began — barely previous the tip of the tee field.

Kizzire truly escaped hassle and hit his third shot to simply seven ft, which arrange a terrific take a look at birdie. However he missed it and settled for par and an opening-round one-under 69. He adopted that with one other 69 and wound up lacking the lower by a single shot. We don’t like that — right here on the Monday End we’d wish to see nearly all people make nearly each lower — nevertheless it was a reminder of the roulette-wheel last tee shot and a humbling golf gap. Shortcuts and 40-yard drives? That’s golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who gained the week?

Nick Taylor completed in ridiculous trend, holing a chip for eagle on his 72nd gap after which making birdie on the primary two playoff holes to outlast Nico Echavarria. Taylor now has 5 PGA Tour wins, together with the 2023 RBC Canadian Open, the 2024 WM Phoenix Open and now the 2025 Sony. He’s additionally a rattling spectacular 3-0 in playoffs.

“We’d like methods to gradual the mind down, and that’s when the breath work began. I’ve achieved twice-a-day breath work since that day, the yoga, the meditation, and every thing to decelerate my amygdala, to decelerate the place this factor is. I suppose that was over 150 days in the past, and I’m beginning to see indicators, and it’s been thrilling.”

We’re rooting for you, Gary.

SHORT HITTERS

5 extra participant strikes, in short.

1. Viktor Hovland was noticed working with swing coach TJ Yeaton on the Dubai Desert Basic after confirming a break up with Joe Mayo.

2. Whereas Hovland isn’t working with Mayo, one other professional is: Webb Simpson! The longtime Tour professional admitted this week that he doesn’t “understand how lengthy” he desires to “battle” after a run of poor kind. He’s been consulting Mayo and continues to work with longtime caddie Paul Tesori, too. (Tesori is now Tom Kim’s caddie.)

3. Harry Corridor is working with legendary swing coach Butch Harmon, which he says has made him extra assured delivering a sq. membership face. We are able to solely take guys at their phrase, however that tends to occur with visits to Butch — issues simplify.

“I approached him [last year], and he reached out to me just a few months after and stated it will be nice to see you. I began working with him, and since then I’ve performed very nice,” Corridor stated. He completed T10 in Hawaii.

Guess what? It labored. McCarthy completed T16 on the Sony thanks partially to five.5 strokes gained placing, good for eighth within the discipline. We suspect it’s the wizard, not the wand.

ONE BIG QUESTION

Can LIV create its personal younger stars?

Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra induced a stir over the weekend as he introduced his intention to pursue a PGA Tour card after leaving LIV.

In feedback to Flushing It Golf, Chacarra stated he was grateful for his expertise on LIV (and his renumeration as a member) however described the expertise as unfulfilling.

“I see what it’s wish to win on the PGA Tour and the way your life modifications. The way you get main entry and rating factors. On LIV, nothing modifications, there’s solely cash. It doesn’t matter when you end thirtieth or first, solely cash. I’m not a man who desires more cash. What is going to change my life is taking part in in Hawaii and qualifying for the majors, qualifying for the Masters, the Ryder Cup,” Chacarra stated.

“After I joined LIV, they promised OWGR and majors. But it surely didn’t occur. I trusted them. I used to be the primary younger man, then the others got here after I made the choice. However OWGR and majors nonetheless hasn’t occurred.

“It’s irritating, however I’m excited for the brand new alternative and to see the place my recreation takes me.”

It’s value contemplating the supply and taking Chacarra’s feedback with a grain of salt, contemplating his break up from LIV could have been mutual. Nonetheless, the sentiment behind these feedback? Fairly jarring. Whereas we’re used to listening to PGA Tour gamers critique their league, commissioner, insurance policies and many others., that apply is actually forbidden on LIV. From the surface, loads of individuals have lobbed loads of shade in LIV’s path in regards to the meaninglessness of all of it, however we’ve hardly ever heard a participant specific what sounds an terrible lot like remorse.

The query then turns into whether or not LIV has a repair to Chacarra’s objections. Can the tour develop its personal younger stars? Chacarra in contrast his early success to Ludvig Aberg on the PGA Tour. The 2 have been rivals in faculty and have every gained since turning professional, however Aberg’s stature has soared whereas Chacarra feels LIV’s focus continues to be on its established figures like Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Koepka and extra. Whereas there’s little question LIV already has proficient children (like David Puig and Caleb Surratt) and continues to amass extra (together with 22-year-old Korean Tour participant of the yr Yubin Jang), what’s much less clear is whether or not it has the clout to show them into well-known sportsmen. Will a brand new season (and a brand new TV deal on the horizon) change that?

ONE THING TO WATCH

Seen and Heard from TGL.

Our Sean Zak was within the constructing for the TGL’s launch — as was our Claire Rogers, who’s serving as digital correspondent for the brand new league. We’ve achieved a bunch of those behind-the-scenes model Seen and Heard movies the final couple years and that is our first of 2025. (I say “our” regardless that I had nothing to do with this one.)

See what they discovered on Night time 1 in SoFi.

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NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday End HQ.

I misplaced my first golf match of 2025, a nine-holer at Interbay Golf Heart that ended when my buddy Russell drilled a 30-footer for birdie on the final. I dream of revenge. And of temperatures above 44.

We’ll see you subsequent week.

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Dylan Dethier welcomes your feedback at dylan_dethier@golf.com.