Joel Dahmen is a surprise co-leader with Rory McIlroy after 36 holes of the U.S. Open at The Country Club – and he was contemplating skipping the qualifier.
Dahmen, 34, is one of three players to shoot 68 or better in both rounds, finishing the first round one off the lead after a 67, before backing it up with a 68 on Friday. Hayden Buckley and Aaron Wise both posted a pair of 68s, and are one stroke off the lead in a tie for third.
In his second trip around the course, Dahmen had a strong front nine, birdieing the first hole as well as the fifth and eighth, with a bogey on the second. He started the back nine poorly, with a bogey on 10, but followed it with seven pars and a long birdie putt.
Speaking to the media after his round, he confirmed the story that he almost pulled out of the qualifier where he punched his ticket.
"There was a lot of discussion leading up to it, yeah, the prior week," he said. "I told my wife I wasn't going to do it.
"Then I was tired at Memorial and said I wasn't going to do it. I was never really going to do it until I… sort of played better at Memorial and the game was there.
"My coach, Rob Rashell, came out and things started to trend in the right direction. And then [my caddie] Geno [Bonnalie], I felt bad because he didn't switch his flight when he could have got home Sunday night, so at that point I had to stick it out."
Clearly, he is thrilled with his decision.
"I'm incredibly happy now for sure," he said. "I mean, sometimes you take for granted what you have out here a little bit.
"I think this is my eighth or ninth major championship, and you think not long ago I would have done a lot of things to play in one, and to think that I have an opportunity just to skip one, kind of looking back, even this whole week, you don't appreciate really.
"I've played 130-odd events. I've been six years out here. It's easy to get in a lull and be like, you just go home for two weeks and hang out and everything is all hunky-dory, but when you get here, everything changes as soon as you get on property.
"It's a USGA event. It's huge. People everywhere. So, yeah, that changes your mind pretty quickly."
After finding some form recently, Dahmen said he is starting to encounter fans who know who he is – something he does not believe will ever feel normal.
"It is unbelievable to me how many people know my name or yell for me out there," he said. "It's weird.
"I'm getting recognized a little bit more off the golf course – my wife will look at me, like, what is happening?
"It's not normal. I don't know if I'll ever get used to it, but it comes with good golf."
Danny Willett tempted to bring forward full-time return after impressive Masters
Former champion Danny Willett admits he is tempted to accelerate his planned return to full-time action following an impressive comeback in the Masters.
Willett had feared he would be sidelined for at least a year following shoulder surgery in September last year but recovered sufficiently to return to the scene of his 2016 triumph and carded a superb opening 68.
The 36-year-old was also level par for 17 holes in extremely difficult conditions in Friday’s second round before an untimely triple bogey on the 18th, but comfortably made the halfway cut and went on to finish in a tie for 45th along with defending champion Jon Rahm.
View this post on Instagram“Mentally it’s been really tough this week and maybe a little bit of that came in towards the end,” Willett told the PA news agency.
“But the body feels good, shoulder feels really strong so now I’ve got another seven weeks off to go and do the work that we need to do to progress before we come back properly.
“If you said at the start of the week that you’re going to have some really good spells and you’d finish 45th you’d have probably taken it, so there’s some good things to work on.
“The 68 in the first round was fantastic and the last couple of days could have been three or four shots better without being crazy.
“We played with two guys who won this year on the PGA Tour [Austin Eckroat and Stephan Jaeger] and we weren’t sure how it’s going to be but you come in and you don’t feel like you’re leaps and bounds behind them.”
Asked if he was now tempted to add tournaments to his schedule, Willett added: “It is tempting, it’s really tempting but my manager’s going to speak to the guys and see what happens with the medical stuff.
“They’ve always told me to not come back too early because you don’t really gain anything in terms of your medical exemptions and things like that.
“There’s still no rush. The main plan was the European Open in Hamburg in seven weeks.
“That’s the only one I’m entered into and I don’t think there’s any reason to compete before that unless I feel a burning desire or Nic [wife Nicole] kicks me out of the house because I’ve been home too long.”
Scottie Scheffler hails influence of English putting guru after Masters win
Scottie Scheffler has hailed the influence of English putting guru Phil Kenyon after claiming his second Masters title in the last three years.
Scheffler compiled one of the best ball-striking seasons ever seen in 2023, his adjusted scoring average of 68.63 being the seventh-lowest in PGA Tour history and the best by anyone not named Tiger Woods.
In total Scheffler was ranked first in nine different categories, including greens in regulation and strokes gained off the tee, but was ranked 162nd out of 193 players in putting.
That prompted the world number one to turn to Kenyon for help and the move has paid massive dividends, with Scheffler winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship in successive weeks and finishing second in his next start before travelling to Augusta.
“After East Lake last year, ride home on the plane, sitting there talking to Blake [Smith, his agent] and we kind of look at each other, and I think we both were thinking the same thing,” the 27-year-old American explained following his nerveless four-shot Masters win over Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.
“And we both looked at each other, and I was like, ‘You know, I want to see a putting coach’. Blake goes, ‘I think that’s a good idea. Let’s talk to Randy [Smith, his coach].
“I had watched Phil before and watched him coach players. When you’re out here as long as I’ve been, I just see stuff, and I loved the way Phil coached his players.
“You look at a guy like Fitzy [Matt Fitzpatrick] who lines up his putts and uses a putter that has a lot of swing to it, and you look at a guy like Keegan Bradley, doesn’t use a line on the ball, uses a big giant putter cross-handed, and he putts good.
“As I watched Phil, I could tell that he was open-minded, and that’s the type of people I like to work with. And we kind of hit the ground running in the fall.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the decision that Randy also made to be open-minded, not take an ego to it, sit there, watch us work, watch Phil do his thing.
“Phil is also a guy that doesn’t have a big ego. He just wants what’s best for his players. I’m really, really fortunate to have those two guys as part of my team.
“Randy had taught me for almost 20 years every single aspect of the game. And so for me to have to bring in somebody else could have been a shot to his ego and he may not have wanted me to do it.
“But Randy sat there and he said, ‘You know what, I think it’s the right time’. We called Phil and about a week later he came in, had a visit. We worked for a couple days, and, yeah, now we’re here.”
Another key member of Scheffler’s team is caddie Ted Scott, who formerly worked for two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson.
“Ted, it’s going to be hard to catch up with you on all these Masters titles if you keep working for me,” Scheffler joked during the green jacket presentation ceremony.
The pair had met in a bible study class on the PGA Tour and Scheffler and Watson played together in the Zurich Classic team event before Watson and Scott parted ways.
“When he called me I had no idea he was that good,” Scott said.
“We were his partner in New Orleans. I was like, yeah, he’s a good player, and he’s a great guy. I’d love to hang out with him. After two weeks, I was like, this guy is really good. Now it’s like, wow, is he really good. I’m surprised too.
“I’m just pinching myself honestly. I don’t really know what I’m seeing. The guy is special. He’s a different kind of special. I think we’re all seeing it, and we’re all questioning where did this come from?
“I think discipline is a word that comes to mind. I’ve heard stories that when he was seven years old he would show up at the golf course wearing pants [trousers], talking about he’s going to be on the PGA Tour.
“And he just does all the little things well, and he does them consistently. He doesn’t skip. He doesn’t miss a day. He has that mentality of like ‘I’m going somewhere with all this, I’m actually doing it for a reason’.
“Then when he gets in a moment, he’s got all the tools.”
Scottie Scheffler issues warning to rivals after claiming second Masters title
Scottie Scheffler warned his rivals he has no plans to take his eye off the ball after securing his second Masters title in three years.
Scheffler carded a closing 68 at Augusta National to finish four shots ahead of Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and has now won three of his last four events and finished runner-up in the other.
The world number one’s thoughts immediately turned to getting home as soon as possible to his wife Meredith, who is pregnant with their first child, but he also intends to keep challenging for the game’s biggest titles.
“I’m coming home, I’ll be home as quick as I can,” Scheffler said when asked if he had a message for his wife.
“I wish I could soak this in a little bit more but all I can think about is getting home. It’s a very, very special time for both of us.
“I can’t put into words what it means to win this tournament again and really can’t put into words what it’s going to be like to be a father for the first time.
“I definitely will enjoy the birth of my first child, and my priorities will change very soon, so golf will be fourth in line, but I still love competing.
“I don’t plan on taking my eye off the ball any time soon.”
Aberg threatened to become the first player to win the Masters on their debut since 1979 when he held a share of the lead following a birdie on the ninth, only to run up a double bogey on the 11th after pulling his approach into the water.
The 24-year-old responded superbly and birdied the 13th and 14th to keep the pressure on, only for Scheffler to pick up shots on the same holes.
“I think there’s a lot of things that we did very well this week, especially today, because I came out and I was very nervous, obviously,” Aberg, who only turned professional 10 months ago, said.
“I was shaking a little bit on the first tee. Those are all things that I really enjoy doing. We said that it’s a privilege to be able to hit all these shots out here, and it’s a privilege to be in this position.
“Obviously we knew that hitting it in the water on 11 wasn’t ideal, but we also just kept playing. That’s what me and my caddie Joe [Skovron] and our team has been trying to work on. Just keep playing no matter what happens.
“I think we did that very well and it just showed that we stuck to what we did, and it ended up being pretty okay anyways.
“It shows we’re doing a lot of good stuff, and obviously, finishing well in the Masters is a dream come true. Just playing here has been such a privilege, and I’m super proud of myself and the team and all the work that we’re doing.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
