Greenbrier Classic

Danny Lee had secured a spot in the Open Championship in two weeks by virtue of his top-three finish, but the young Kiwi of Korean ancestry wanted more. He just missed a birdie putt, which would have secured victory, at the par-three 18th at the Old White course at the Greenbrier. He joined Kevin Kisner, Robert Streb and David Hearn in a quad playoff, then birdied the same hole in overtime, draining the putt he missed in regulation. That didn’t get the job done, however. Hearn also made deuce and on they went to the it-shouldn’t-be-this-difficult, par-five 17th. Normally, a hole where eagles are possible and birdies, routine, 17 played like an angry porcupine this week. It jumped up and got Hearn in the playoff, and Lee earned his first PGA Tour victory at age 24. Hearn, James Hahn and Greg Owen also earned spots in the Open Championship. One final golfer will gain entry this week at the John Deere Classic.

Strange Update: Is it John Peterson’s all-pars scorecard on Day 1, or Robert Streb’s wedge-putting down the stretch? Kudos to J.P. for 18 boring holes, but he didn’t make the 36-hole cut. On the other hand, Streb broke his putter on the ninth green, forcing him to wedge-blade every putt on Sunday’s back nine, shoot 32 and make a playoff. As if! Robert Streb is the King of West Virginia strange.

Open de France

Bernd Wiesberger is quietly sneaking up the “I’ve heard of him” chart, and not for the hilarious nickname (Burned Cheeseburger) bestowed on him by caddies. The Austrian went 66-65 on the weekend to sail past third-round leader Jaco Van Zyl of South Africa (third place, five strokes back) to win by two over England’s James Morrison. James, Jaco and fifth-place Rafael Cabrera-Bello took home the sweet consolation prize of qualification into this month’s Open Championship at St. Andrews. The top three not-yet-qualified were issued a golden ticket. Cabrera-Bello birdied the last for a back-nine 29, squeaking past Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Brendan Steele, each one shot in arrears. Three more slots are up for grabs this week at the Scottish Open at Gullane’s composite course.

Strange Update: Renato Paratore’s equally boring, Day-2 scorecard. If someone gave you a run-down of the young Italian’s performance like this (four bogies, three birdies for a one-over 72), you’d shrug your shoulders and say, decent round. If someone told you that the same kid had just signed for 18 consecutive fours, you’d shake your head and mutter, strange! Like Peterson, Paratore also failed to survive the 36-hole cut.

Nova Scotia Open

Abraham Ancer, born in Texas but playing under the Mexican flag, birdied the first playoff hole at Ashburn golf club’s New course to secure a victory in the Web.Com Tour’s Nova Scotia Open. Ancer’s victima in extra time was fellow Texan Bronsoon Burgoon, known previously for his final-hole, near hole-out to win the 2009 NCAA team title for Texas A&M. With the win, Ancer jumped from 39th to 4th on the money list, eyes clearly on a 2016 PGA Tour card. Burgoon made a leap of his own, moving from 43rd into the top 20.

Dakota Dunes Open

On the other side of Canada, in Saskatchewan, three aspiring pros from the Mackenzie Tour-Canada entered into a playoff of their own for the Dakota Dunes title. Clark Klaasen, Michael Letzig and JJ Spaun went to the par-five 18th hole twice. On the second go-round, Letzig left his approach 15 feet from the hole, while Klaasen was at a dozen feet and Spaun, a mere eight from glory. So it stands to reason that Letzig would make, then sweat out misses from his opponents. With the victory, Letzig moved from 103rd position to the fourth spot on the tour’s order of merit.

DNF/MC

More strange goings-on across Planet Golf and its satellite worlds this week, so allow us the room to pick at these topics:

Rory and the Kickabout: It’s not a motorcycle, nor is it a jet ski. It’s pick-up soccer with friends and it probably cost the 2014 champion a chance to defend his title at the home of golf. Ah, the rub of the green.

Marco (Polo) Rubio: Marco Rubio, Republican presidential candidate from the great state of Florida, came up for air with eyes wide open to yell Marco, Polo! Yup, he cemented his bid with limited-edition Marco Rubio polo shirts. Get them while he’s still relevant.

Disc Golf Ace:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkzflG_Say0

This is simply awesome, for the camera work as well as the improbability of the actual hole-in-one. So reminiscent of the Larry Bird-Michael Jordan “Nothing But Net” commercials, except this guy did the deed.

Trump Elite: This announced candidate continues to talk about how golf should not be a sport of the young nor the, aahhh, the non-wealthy. Instead of supporting the grow-the-game and time-for-nine initiatives of, let’s see, every golfing administrative body in the world, Trump does his (un)level best to exclude the hungriest, most dynamic segment of golf’s population. Cue head scratch.