The greatest golf partner on the planet, a brutal slow-play video goes viral and a potential new PGA Tour slogan gets revealed

Welcome to another installment of The Grind, where we’re still sore from Sunday’s driveway shoveling. Since the weather forecasts were so far off and I underestimated how deep the snow would be, this was the hardest clearing job ever for me. but exhibit The grind has to go on and there’s still a lot of golf to talk about it. So allow me to move on to the last part of Year 13 (!). Let me get the heating pad set up first. . . Okay, this is better. Let’s do this.

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Q School Hero: With only five PGA Tour cards among the 174 players, this event remains the ultimate pressure cooker. Thanks to AJ Ewart, Adam Svensson, Alejandro Tosti, Marcelo Rozo (more on that later) and Dylan Wu for standing out.

Mike Ellman

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“My goal here was to win a golf tournament … so it feels great to do that,” Edwardette said. “It’s kind of like the old saying ‘Aim small and make mistakes small.'” Good strategy. Wu birdied the first playoff hole to beat Ben Silverman for the final spot:

Play through the playoffs to get your dream job back? Talk about a clutch!

Jayden Schaper: However, the 24-year-old South African player is not to be outdone at critical moments, and he hopes to win his first DP World Tour title in the playoffs. But after finding the fairway bunker, Schaper completed the incredible shot to set up a winning eagle at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. It was so good that even his opponent Sean Norris applauded:

What a beautiful moment. Then again, we should probably expect this guy to be – at least according to Wikipedia – nicknamed “CLUTCH”:

Normally I would say you need more than one DP World Tour win to earn a nickname like that, but when you earn it by hitting arguably the best shot of the year in the playoffs, I’d put that aside right now. Plus, it’s not fair to have a cool nickname when you already have a cool name. Just saying.

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Andrew Novak: Especially in team competitions. Because after winning the Zurich Classic and Grant Thornton Tennis Championships in the same year, Novak has to be considered one of the greatest playing partners on the planet. That’s it for the PGA Tour Team Golf Majors Calendar!

Johnny Isquierdo

The powers that be have to put this guy on Team USA for the next Ryder Cup. Oh, and of course, congratulations to Lauren Coughlin. Crazy enough, this silly season event resulted in the biggest check of her golf career:

There’s nothing stupid about this.

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Ben Coles’ free throw: While now is not a good time to take a one-shot penalty, it is certainly the worst time to do so. The 54-hole co-leader was still tied for the lead on the eighth hole on Sunday when he accidentally moved his golf ball while moving some debris. The four-time Korn Ferry Tour champion made double bogey on that hole and another double bogey on the next hole to finish tied for 29th:

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Ouch.

Camilo Villegas’ putting: While there’s no good time to miss a short putt, it’s certainly the worst time to do so. Villegas had a chance to close out the tournament with five consecutive birdies, but he missed a three-footer on the final hole and ended up missing a playoff for the fifth and final PGA Tour card by one shot. Oops, here we go again.

There’s no video of the putt online, but that’s probably what’s best for Camilo.

Pre-batting routine: Theo Humphrey became popular during his time at Q School, but not for good reasons:

I feel for the guy, but I also feel for anyone who plays with him. Or behind him. Incredibly, as all of this happened, Humphrey ended up finishing tied for 13th and earning a full spot on the Korn Ferry Tour next season. Hopefully for the sake of the entire tour, he can work on hitting the ball faster throughout the offseason.

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Ready to use

Winter begins with the PNC Championship, also known as the tournament that Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods regularly compete in. There’s also the DP World Tour’s AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and the new Optum Golf Channel event on Wednesday night. To talk about the latter, NBC Sports’ Smylie Kaufman said on this week’s episode of The Loop podcast:

Honestly, I think he would be more excited about the LSU Tigers hiring Lane Kiffin. But Smylie is great as always. If his latest player breakout prediction comes true, Cameron Young is set to have a breakout year in 2026.

Random Tournament Facts: Bernhard Langer won the PNC Championship a record six times. From 2005 to 2006, he and his son Stefan won the championship for many consecutive years, and he and his other son Jason won the championship four times, including last year.

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Betting on random props this week

—Tiger and Charlie no longer at PNC: 1 million to 1 odds

–Bernhard will be the first to win the PNC with his (great?) grandson: 2-to-1 odds

—Ben Kohles Be more careful next time you move debris: LOCK

Tweets of the Week (Knowledge Department)

Sean Zak of Golf Magazine did a great job finding this little trademarked gem of a possible new slogan for the PGA Tour, which also happens to be an attempt by LIV Golf:

I still don’t understand why they dropped “these guys are good”, but “best place to belong” is certainly a lot better than “living below par”.

Tweets of the week (comedy department)

Willy Wilcox had the best reaction to false reports that his boss Sungjae Im was traveling to LIV. First, this:

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Then this:

If there was a PGA Tour Caddy of the Year award, my vote would be for Willie.

Photos of the week

Continuing the topic, this is how Si Woo Kim (finally) announced his own LIV rumors are not true:

If you’re a Presidents Cup fan, you’ll be glad the two Korean starters didn’t leave the PGA Tour.

Viral video of the week

This might be the craziest golf video of the year. An unexploded artillery shell was discovered at Royal Liverpool and the club called in experts to conduct a controlled explosion:

Now here’s the explosion shot.

Viral Video of the Week (Non-Bomb Division)

Nike is ready to announce that Scottie Scheffler has won PGA Tour Player of the Year (for the fourth consecutive year) with this awesome ad:

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Of course, it helps when the results are confirmed and you have a few months to prepare.

Show affection in public this week

Wow. Andrew, supports the baby’s head and neck area very well. What a great year it has been for him and his family.

Celebrity Golfer of the Week

LeBron James can’t stop thinking about golf. Even during the game.

I don’t want to retire this guy, but I’m glad he has more golf to look forward to.

Quote of the week

“I cried before I left the house this morning. The emotions were overwhelming, but I told myself, ‘You have to see these emotions, recognize them, embrace them, and move on,’ because they are there. I can’t lie to myself, this was probably the most important round of my golf career. But I cried. I told myself I’m ready, I’m ready, I always play for this moment, this is going to be my day.” — Marcelo Rozo on playing at Q School How to deal with big emotions before your last day. Well done, Marcelo.

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this and that

Congratulations to Aldrich Potgieter for winning the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Award. So far, the LIV rumors circulating around the young South African have not been confirmed. . . . Justin Thomas has made a generous $1 million donation to his alma mater, the University of Alabama, to build the school’s men’s and women’s golf facilities. If you’ve seen Golf Digest’s video of this facility (called Crimson Reserve), you know it’s pretty crazy:

Our full ranking of newsmakers for 2025 is out, with Rory McIlroy taking the top spot. I just want to thank Rory for all the content he has provided for golf writers this year. In fact, I put together this “57 Things to Happen to Rory McIlroy in 2025,” so enjoy. You too, Rory. . . . It was indeed a productive Golf Digest holiday party for you this year, as I shocked many of you by finishing second in the long game with a 297-yard shot:

Does everyone in the company compete? No. Am I trying to prevent someone from competing? Yes. But I still shot 297 (thanks to Mike Carroll and his Fit For Golf app!). Winning a Therabody Cube as a prize helped me deal with my sore knees the next day. Man, I’m old. . . . Speaking of age, I sincerely thank everyone who has read The Grind over the past 13 years. Happy holidays and see you in a few weeks!

Random Thoughts Questions

How many POYs will Scottie end up winning in his career?

How many times will I shovel my driveway this winter?

How much will it cost me to jump to spring?