Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we’re still getting our heads around Indiana being the best college football team in the land. This is almost as confusing of a time as when a short-and-crooked hitting golfer was World No. 1. No offense, Luke Donald, but that was pretty incredible—especially since Luke didn’t have Curt Cignetti guiding him. That being said, Donald has turned into the Curt Cignetti of the Ryder Cup so I guess it makes more sense now. Anyway, I’m starting to ramble, so let’s get to the golf that happened this past week.
Hideki Matsuyama: It was a weird 2025 for the Japanese star, who started the season with a win at the Sentry but waited until Sunday to add a second (bookend) victory at the Hero World Challenge. In between, there was nothing to write home about at the majors, but if Tiger Woods ever hosts a major, watch out. Matsuyama has now accepted trophies from Tiger three times, including twice in the Bahamas:
Even crazier is that both his Hero wins consisted of him holding off Swedish golfers, Henrik Stenson in 2016 and Alex Noren on Sunday. But again, nothing seems that crazy anymore with the Indiana Hoosiers being a college football juggernaut.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen: This rising Danish star earned his first DP World Tour title at the Australian Open. And he did it with one of the most difficult and clutch up-and-downs of the year:
Even Michael Block would be impressed by those hands. Neergaard-Petersen edged Cam Smith, who missed a par putt on the final hole to lose his national open. Tough finish for Cam, but it was good to see him showing some serious signs of life again. Anyway, congrats to Rasmus, who we’ll be seeing a lot more in the U.S. next year after he locked up a PGA Tour card for recently finishing ninth in the Race to Dubai standings. So he’ll become acquainted with FedEx Cup points soon.
Jaquan Ware: Major shout-out to this guy who made it a mission to get to 100K followers on Instagram back in July. Why? Because his wife gave him permission to become a full-time golf influencer if he ever did.
Well, less than five months later—and thanks in part to Barstool’s KFC giving him a big boost—Jaquan has done it:
What a legend. Congrats, Jaquan. Now, I don’t exactly know how this will pay the bills, but I’m sure you’ll figure that out. In the meantime, keep on playing golf. And let me know if you’re ever in the New York area. I’d like you to talk to my wife about the benefits of playing more golf.
Tiger Woods’ update: The 15-time major champ finally provided some details on his latest (potential) comeback, and it wasn’t great news. Tiger revealed he’s been cleared to chip and putt—he gave a quick, but insightful putting lesson ahead of the Hero—but that he has no timetable for a return. And if he’s not playing in the PNC Championship with Charlie, you know his body isn’t in good shape right now.
More and more young golf fans are getting robbed of seeing this guy play golf and that’s a shame. How good was he? Well, to steal a line from Curt Cignetti: “I [used to] win. Google me.”
Wyndham Clark’s season: It was a rough season for the 2023 U.S. Open champ, both on the course and in the locker room as we saw with his Oakmont temper tantrum. But I appreciate his honesty when asked to give himself a grade for 2025. “An F that became an F-plus,” Clark said on Friday after moving into a tie for the 36-hole lead at the Hero World Challenge.
Technically, Wyndham, I don’t think there’s any such thing as an F-plus. But, again, appreciate the honesty. And a T-8 in the Bahamas is a (small) sign things are turning back around.
Scottie Scheffler’s finish: Despite hanging around the top of the leaderboard all week in the Bahamas, the World No. 1 didn’t win. WHAT’S WRONG WITH SCOTTIE?!
