The genius of Scottie Scheffler’s caddie and USWO intrigue

Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I’m calling this the Weekend 9. Think of it as a spot to warm you up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’ll have thoughts. We’ll have tips. We’ll have tweets. But just nine in all, though sometimes maybe more and sometimes maybe less. As for who I am? The paragraphs below tell some of the story. I can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com

U.S. Women’s Open week approaches. Let’s do another 9 for the 9, where we look at nine players who I’m interested in because I think you’ll be interested in them. Typically ahead of majors, I like to look up every participant to see what’s being written about them, along with learning biographical nuggets. Some of the research turns into a story. Some of the findings don’t.

Some of it I’m going to include in this spot. Here we go.

— When Abbey Daniel was in high school, doctors believed she would never play sports again after she fell 10 feet and broke her arm in four places.  

— Lindy Duncan, after a runner-up finish last month at the Chevron Championship, shared a note on Instagram in which she talked about understanding her sister’s message of “struggle less.” You can read that story here. 

— How will Ariya Jutanugarn respond after her whiffed chip at the Chevron? GOLF’s Dylan Dethier wrote about the final round here.

— Nataliya Guseva is the first Russian to earn an LPGA card. Last fall, she also watched her boyfriend, Egor Eroshenko, become the first Russian to make a PGA Tour cut. Here, you can read that story, written by Golf Channel.

— Aline Krauter was one of nine players to be penalized for slow play at her USWO qualifying event, and she failed to advance after coming up short in a seven-for-one playoff. She was eventually awarded a spot in the field, though. Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols wrote about it all here. 

— Earlier this month, Chisato Iwai missed the cut at the Black Desert Championship after being penalized two strokes for slow play. Matt Craddock of Golf Monthly wrote about that here. 

— The story of Megan Khang’s family is worth your time. Steve Eubanks, for the LPGA, shared it here. 

— The story of Lilia Vu’s family is also worth your time. The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn wrote shared it here.

— Lydia Ko could win a Career Grand Slam with a win at the USWO. (Though the LPGA plays five majors, it defines a Career Grand Slam as winning four of the events. If a player wins all five majors, they will have won what is called the Super Career Grand Slam.)   

Actually, let’s do 18 for the 9. Here are nine more items. 

— Ilhee Lee will be well-received in Wisconsin — she said she’s a Green Bay Packers fan. Golf Digest’s Jill Painter Lopez wrote about that here. 

— At last year’s USWO, Wichanee Meechai shared the lead after three rounds. She also believed the house she was staying in was haunted. GOLF’s Jack Hirsh wrote about that here.  

— Emily Odwin is the first player from Barbados to play in the USWO. 

— The story of Sophia Popov’s reaction to an LPGA points mistake is worth your time. Nichols wrote it here.  

— Gabi Ruffels once forgot to sign up for Q-School. Hirsh wrote about how she recovered, and you can read the story here. 

— Sarah Schmelzel’s appearance on GOLF’s “Subpar” is a must-watch, and you can do so by clicking here. 

— Andie Smith, during the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, made a hole in one on Augusta’s Par-3 Course, and you can watch that video here. 

— Five-time major winner Yani Tseng, a right-handed player, is putting lefty. GOLF’s Sean Zak wrote about that here.

— Albane Valenzuela believes in a world tour. Nichols wrote about that here.  

Actually, I have two more, in honor of the playoff format, I guess. 

— David Shelter of the USGA explains here why there’s a bell on Erin Hills’ 7th hole. 

— In 1998, Wisconsin also hosted the USWO, at Blackwolf Run, and Se-Ri Pak hit one of the event’s more memorable shots. You can watch it below. 

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Let’s see if we can find eight more items for the Weekend 9. 

One takeaway from the week — and for the weeks ahead

2. Craig Kessler met with reporters on Thursday after being named LPGA commissioner, and, by most accounts, he ‘won’ the press conference. 

I thought this quote was interesting, and it was shared in a story written by Golf Digest’s Painter Lopez. 

“I hope they know they have a commissioner who cares deeply, who’s going to work his tail off to take this organization to the next level and to tell their stories because they deserve to be told,” Kessler said. “I think when the world hears them, they will fall even more in love with the LPGA.”

You come for the competition. You stay — and connect — because of the stories. 

Another takeaway from the week — and for the weeks ahead 

3. During his win at last week’s PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler fought a left miss — until Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, told him just to aim right, Scheffler said. 

On SiriusXM Radio, Scott shared his side.

“You ask a question and you get an answer,” he said, “and sometimes it’s the wrong answer, like, ‘What’s this putt doing?’, and sometimes it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s right edge,’ and it breaks right. So it’s a game of guess-timation. And I’m like a weatherman. Unfortunately, sometimes weathermen don’t really seem to lose their jobs, so sometimes we do as caddies. But yeah, you do the best you can to answer the question. 

“And I think if you’re shooting a gun and every time you pull the trigger it’s missing the target left, it’s the easiest thing to do is just aim right, rather than try to fix the gun. Scottie’s such a simple golfer and simple technique the way that he thinks about the game, so I just noticed he made really confident swings a couple holes in a row and everything was pured but just starting left so when he asked me, I was like, dude, I don’t think you need to think about anything, just aim right. And for sure enough, it started working. So I don’t know if that’s what it was or if he liked the way the tee shots looked. Maybe some of the tee shots on the back nine he might liked better, who knows?”

Best non-GOLF.com read for your weekend 

4. What am I reading (besides the thoughtful prose of my colleagues)? This article is worth your click. 

Here, Chris Wood contributed to a player blog for the DP World Tour, opening up on his struggles and comeback. This, in particular, was good:

“When I first started trying to get back onto the golf course in 2023, my coach decided we should just start with a 6-iron and a putter and go and play nine holes. That was my first time back on the course and that was brilliant because there isn’t really any trauma for me with a 6-iron. I started there and we worked our way up and it’s progressed over the last couple of years when I’ve been able to handle it and I’m now at a point where I’m pushing the coaches a bit more. I’m OK to fail now, which is great, so we’re trying to make that practice a bit harder because I can take a little fall now, whereas a year or so ago, any more damage was really traumatic.”

A golf story that may interest only me 

5. Here, MotorTrend’s Miguel Cortina wrote about the best cars and SUVs for golfers. 

Another golf story that may interest only me 

6. Over two of his more recent press conferences, Scheffler has mentioned his play in other sports. At the PGA Championship, after noting that you can’t play defense against other players in golf, he talked about basketball. 

“I was a good defensive basketball player in high school,” Scheffler said. “I was the lockdown guy. I was the hustle guy. That’s what happens when you don’t have a lot of talent, you’ve got to hustle.”

This week, at the Charles Schwab Challenge, after a question about his hat ‘spike’ after winning the PGA, he talked about football. 

“When I played football,” Scheffler said, “I didn’t score very many touchdowns, so I wasn’t too experienced in that.”

A golf video that may interest only me 

7. Love this. 

What golf is on TV this weekend?

8. Here’s a rundown of golf on TV this weekend:

— Saturday 

7:30 a.m.-noon ET: Soudal Open third round, Golf Channel 

1 p.m.-3 p.m. ET: Charles Schwab Challenge third round, Golf Channel 

3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET: Charles Schwab Challenge third round, CBS 

3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET: Mexico Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba third round, Golf Channel 

3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET: Senior PGA Championship third round, NBC 

— Sunday 

7 a.m.-noon ET: Soudal Open final round, Golf Channel 

1 p.m.-3 p.m. ET: Charles Schwab Challenge final round, Golf Channel 

1 p.m.-3 p.m. ET: Mexico Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba third round, CBS

3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET: Charles Schwab Challenge final round, CBS 

3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET: Senior PGA Championship final round, NBC 

What you’re emailing me 

9. This came after I wrote 50 observations from the PGA (which you can read here):

Just read your 50 thoughts on the PGA. I like your articles and observations but need to help you out here:

— Justin Thomas winning Portrush? You are on some heavy crack cocaine. He is WAY overrated. Wins one damn tournament in what, two or three years, and now he is hot again? Give me a break. Same bunch of writers that think Jordan Speith is ready to win a major are the ones who hype JT. Neither one can stand in the same room with Rory.

— Rory most likely skipped [talking to the media] all four days because he was rips**t p***ed off!! …

— Rory loves Quail Hollow and was looking forward to coming back but after his Masters win, which everybody is calling one of the best majors in HISTORY, I am sure he will just be going through the motions the rest of this season, with the only tournaments exciting him being the Open at Royal Portrush and the Ryder Cup. So yeah, he is likely feeling that he doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody anymore. It will take some time for him to get any interest, other than a few special tournaments. Another reason why he likely could give a s**t about talking to the media. … Bottom line: Rory IS golf right now and will continue to be. I fell asleep watching this PGA. The fact that him not talking is a big deal shows how boring the rest of the PGA was without him.

A feel-good video for your weekend 

10. Let’s do 10 items! I need to try this. 

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