⛳️ Wild finishes

Hey there! Amid all the football frenzy, there was still golf being played this weekend — with some pretty wild finishes. 

Grayson Murray beat Keegan Bradley and Byeong Hun An in a playoff at the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Honolulu, while Tommy Fleetwood took down Rory McIlroy by one at the DP World Tour's Dubai Invitational. 

Here are some quick thoughts on the last few days of golf: 

1) A Google search for Grayson Murray will surface some unflattering moments — like his US Open outbursts and those times he played without a front tooth. And, ironically, it was an alcohol-induced hotel bar incident at the 2021 Sony Open that caused the PGA Tour to put Murray on probation.

How fitting that Murray — who says he's eight months sober — would win in Honolulu three years later. 

"It's not easy," he said, after draining a 39-foot winning birdie putt. "I wanted to give up a lot of times. Give up on myself. Give up on the game of golf. Give up on life at times. You just persevere." 

Heavy (but really good) stuff. 

2) Keegan Bradley probably should have won on Sunday. All he needed was a birdie on the very birdie-able Par 5 18th to win. But a disappointing par led to a playoff, which led to another disappointing par at the 18th, which ultimately, wasn't enough. 

"It's tough right now. This is one of the hardest losses I've ever had in my career, if not the hardest," Bradley, a 6-time PGA Tour winner, said after his round. 

Still, I expect a big 2024 from Bradley, who looked cool and confident all weekend — minus those final two holes. 

3) Speaking of big years, Byeong Hun An is already off to a fiery start with a 4th place finish at The Sentry last week and a T2 this week. But after missing a 4-foot birdie putt to extend the playoff on Sunday, the 32-year-old An — who's still searching for his first PGA Tour win — has to be a bit disappointed. 

"Just a poor putt and poor read at the end," An said. "It's a shame it ended that way." 

An told reporters Sunday that "gratitude" and realizing "golf doesn't really matter that much" has been his key mindset shift thus far in 2024. 

I hope the former Cal Bear can get over the hump and hoist a trophy soon. 

4) Is Smylie Kaufman the most likable person in golf right now? 

It's a question that popped into my head as I watched the former tour pro turned on-course commentator call shots from a kayak this weekend in Hawaii. For me, I think he might be. 

It's rare (maybe the first time ever?) that someone so young (32) with his resume (having won on the PGA Tour) would be calling golf tournaments instead of playing in them. But it's precisely Kaufman's youthful excitement combined with his unique experience that makes him so good at what he does. 

In short, I'm a big fan. And, these recent interviews with Golf Magazine and The Golfer's Journal  — which shed more light on Kaufman's career move  — might make you one too. 

5) Is Will Zalatoris ever going to be world-class again? 

Of course, it's WAY too early to start asking this question. Zalatoris had back surgery last spring and didn't play competitively again until Tiger's tournament late last year. 

But at that event, Zalatoris finished dead last (20th out of 20). And this week (thanks to a six-over-par opening round Thursday), he missed the cut by seven shots. 

Zalatoris has several months — heck, probably this entire year — before we can seriously start to wonder about the future state of his game. But, it's something to keep an eye on. 

6) Tommy Fleetwood made a lengthy birdie putt at the last to capture his seventh European Tour victory on Sunday. 

Notably, Fleetwood beat out Rory McIlroy who three-putted from two-feet on 14 and drove his ball into the water on 18. 

Next order of business for Fleetwood is winning for the first time on the PGA Tour and/or capturing his first major championship. 

7) Random fashion opinion: I'm a bit concerned by the news last week that Min Woo Lee signed an apparel deal with lululemon — the company's first such sponsorship on the men's golf side. (Lydia Ko inked a deal with the leisure wear brand back in 2019.) 

Min Woo has some of the best swag in the game. But, is lululemon ... swaggy? 

I'm very over my skis here. Forgive me. But I just have high hopes for Min Woo in 2024 and wouldn't want apparel decisions to get in his way. 

8) Proud dad moment: My 2.5-year-old hit a wiffle ball with a plastic club this weekend that probably would have gone 20 yards if it didn't smack into our basement wall mid-flight. 

He striped it. And the best part is that he knew it too. Right after he hit the shot, he looked right at me with a smile and laughed. It was one of the coolest moments I've had as a dad. 

He also peed in one of his toy bins on Saturday and on Sunday, he pooped on the carpet next to my bed (we spent all weekend trying to potty train him). 

Parenting is hard! And full of so many crazy highs-and-lows.

I think the highs are worth it though? 

9) And finally … I can't stop thinking about this question ... 

I think it’s Rory (since he’s major-less since 2014), but that seems a little harsh?

What do you think?

That's all for today! Thanks so much for reading y'all, and if you’re new to the Quick Nine, I’d love for you to subscribe here!

See you back here later this week. Until then, Nick B.