Tony makes a massive summer run
FINAU'S FAVORITE CHILD
Fresh off his late summer triple crown—winning the 3M Open, Rocket Mortgage Classic and being voted the Most Likable Player on Tour—he sat down for a run of the mill What's In The Bag? article with golf.com.
And it was run of the mill until... he dropped this little nugget about marking his golf balls with the initials of his five children...
“If [Sienna-Vee is] performing well, I’ll keep her in,” Finau said. “But if she wants to go on vacation and hang out on the beach — goes to the sand, likes to swim — I’ll switch her out. So I end up having a favorite son or daughter by the end of the week."
A story that's equal parts vicious and heartwarming. THAT'S how you win most likable player on Tour people.
And since I've only got one child—sup, Jack—I made my own spin on the idea by marking all my golf balls with Bad Birdie employees instead. And let's just say that my boy, Ilum, is on FIRE right now.
(^^ An issue 100 callback that'll be amusing to mayyyybe 50 of you at best. And if I'm being even more honest, likely only amusing to Ilum. But we've grown close since and talked on IG, so it ended up being a really nice icebreaker for us over here at Bad Birdie HQ.)
WHAT IS THIS—THE PLAYBOY INVITATIONAL?
Credit goes to "he who must not be named" from Golf Digest who flagged this in their latest roundup.
After some more digging, you will definitely be hearing more from this mysterious monikered person on Twitter because they're telling stories from the non-Tour golfers and some of this content is pure gold.
Liiiiiiike this gem from the Emerson Open where the winner is awarded $3000 (puts LIV money into perspective, huh?) and a custom robe.
A robe.
I'd expect this kind of prize from Bucket Hat Bill well before I thought I'd see a proper tournament handing one out. He's even getting interviewed in it after his victory. Which has me asking, is Emerson a bathroom renovation company? Is this a shell company for Hugh Hefner's estate to funnel money through? Plenty for Q to dig into it seems...
Ohhhh, wait I get their Twitter handle now, it's not Q like a mysterious MI6 James Bond technician... it stands for Monday Qualifying... bummer.
PHIL LAWYERS UP
Cool.
Long story short, Phil and a bunch of LIV players are suing the PGA for antitrust violations.
It was inevitable, I guess. And the timing is even less surprising as the PGA Tour regular season comes to a close and guys are like, wait, can I play in the playoffs now???
And honestly, now that this has played out for some months, I don't know if I really care.
In fact, the most interesting thought I have about this all is how I'm always amused any time someone files an antitrust/monopoly lawsuit because no matter who it's against, the immediate image that pops into my mind is the mascot from Monopoly on the witness stand. Top hat, monocle and all.
That's all I've got.
A MAJOR 275 YEARS IN THE MAKING
YIKES!
Learned a little history in preparation for the Women's British Open this weekend and I'll say it again, YIKES!
For those who didn't know, the Women's British Open will be playing at Muirfield for the first time in its history. "Hmm, Muirfield sounds super familiar, haven't the men played there like a dozen times already?" - you ask.
(Imagine the grimacing face emoji here. I'm not quite sure how to add in the body of this newsletter.)
Golf Digest taught me that apparently, the reason why women haven't yet played a major at Muirfield is because... women were straight up not allowed to join the club until, gulp, 2017.
Now, I'll leave any further commentary to your imagination as it's abundantly clear why this is absolutely insane. All you need to know is that they have colloquially been known as the "rudest golf club in the world." Nuff said.
Instead, I'll focus on the positives. The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (a name I had to Google to make sure wasn't just a little Scottish boy's make-believe group of friends) has seemingly come a long way in the last five years. As the article describes, the women who have joined the club formally have found it to be quite welcoming and they're making concerted efforts to transform it to be a modern facility.
Anywho, a little backstory never hurt, and I'm excited to watch the history being made this weekend!
ALRIGHT TIKTOK, YOU WIN
Tiktok has been targeting the absolute hell out of me with this game and as I stare at the upcoming lull in the professional golf season, it's got me thinking that I might just have to pull the trigger.
It's called Bucket Golf. It comes with 9 "holes", some whiffle style balls and you basically set up your own courses around whatever outdoor space you want. I like to fancy myself a yard game prodigy and I'm dying to try this out.
Anyone actually tried it? Or is this just social media snake oil?
Now, to find a yard...
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