목요일이다. PGA 투어 Playoff의 시작. 12라운드의 포스트시즌이 시작되었다. 다음 3주간 모든 것이 달라질 수 있다. 멤피스에 온 선수들은 17일 후 East Lake에서 FedExCup 챔피언이 될 가능성을 가지고 있다.
하지만 그 희망도 순식간에 사라진다. 이번 주말 경기가 끝나면 12명 이상이 시즌을 마감한다. 다음주 BMW Championship 후에는 또 20명이 집으로 간다. 3주간 덥고 습한 환경에서 치를 경기는 정신적, 육체적 피로를 쌓을 것이다.
01드리머들의 첫날: 스피스와 3명의 공동 선두
목요일은 꿈꾸는 날이었다. Jordan Spieth가 5언더로 리드를 차지했다. 보기 없는 깔끔한 라운드였다. Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama, Jake Knapp이 함께 공동 선두를 나눴다.
Tommy Fleetwood도 1타 뒤로 붙었다. 작년에 이곳에서 우승했던 그는 또 다시 도전에 나섰다. Viktor Hovland는 4언더로 가담했다. 최근 새로운 코치 Joe Mayo와 재회한 그는 2023년의 흐름을 되살리는 중처럼 보였다.
세 선수가 더 인기 있는 스토리일 리 없다. Spieth는 최고의 자리로 돌아오려 하고, Fleetwood는 자신의 우승을 검증하고 싶고, Hovland는 잃어버린 세월의 페이지를 넘기고 싶다.
하지만 현실은 냉정하다. Spieth는 올 시즌 몇 번 이렇게 시작했지만 상위 10위 피니시가 없었다. Fleetwood는 첫 라운드가 아니라 마지막 라운드로 정의될 것이다. Hovland는 예측 불가능하다. 최근 3개 메이저(PGA, U.S. Open, Open)에서 컷 오프를 당했다.
02상위 50인 버블: 하루의 변화
1라운드 후 상위 50인 진출 순위에 변화가 생겼다. Spieth는 52위에서 22위로 올라갔다. Michael Kim은 61위에서 24위로 진입했다. 반면 Matt McCarty(48위→53위), Keith Mitchell(49위→52위), Maverick McNealy(50위→51위) 등이 탈락했다.
03Will Zalatoris를 추도하며
목요일 TV에서 한 해설자가 Ludvig Åberg에 대해 "앞으로 수많은 메이저와 10승 이상을 할 것 같다"고 예측했다. 그 말이 나를 슬프게 했다.
그 예측이 Will Zalatoris를 떠올리게 했기 때문이다. 4년 전 이곳에서 눈부신 경기를 펼친 선수. 그때도 유명한 해설자들이 비슷한 예측을 했을 것이다.
현재 29세인 Zalatoris는 지난 15개월간 단 5경기만 했다. 지난 경기는 4월 Valero Texas Open이었다. 그 이후 경기를 하지 않고 있고, 이유를 공개하지 않았다. 등 부상이 있어왔고, 시즌 초반엔 발목 부상으로 시간을 빼먹었다.
2022년 이곳에서 Zalatoris가 우승했을 때, 그는 지금 Åberg보다 나이가 많지 않았다. 이미 3개의 메이저 준우승을 기록했고, 3개의 상위 10위 피니시가 있었다. 그때는 누구나 "Zalatoris는 앞으로 여러 번의 Ryder Cup과 Presidents Cup에 나올 것"이라고 생각했다.
목요일 오후 Zalatoris의 2022년 우승 영상을 다시 봤다. 그는 18번홀에서 용감한 퍼트를 넣어 Sepp Straka와 playoff를 만들었고, playoff를 이겨냈다. 그의 첫 투어 우승이었다.
이 선수라면 여러 메이저와 10승 이상을 할 수 있을 것 같은데필자
프로 골프에서의 성공은 짧을 수 있다. 장기적 예측은 실현하기 어렵다. 하지만 Zalatoris가 여전히 다시 돌아올 수 있기를 바란다.
04Original (English) — PGA TOUR
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Let's try to stay calm (and cool), folks …
There's always so much hope on Thursdays. Even more so on this Thursday. It's the first of 12 postseason rounds over the next three weeks. So much is at stake. So much can change. If you made it to Memphis, you have a chance to be crowned the FedExCup champion in 17 days at East Lake Golf Club.
That hope is also fleeting.
By this weekend, more than a dozen golfers will see their seasons end. Another 20 will head home after next week's BMW Championship in St. Louis. The mental and physical toll of this three-week stretch, all forecast to be played in incredibly muggy conditions, will grow by the day. Optimism will turn into survivalism – the adrenaline of the opportunity slowly giving way to the weight of it.
But thisThursday was a day to dream, and oh, did the dreaming feel quite good.
Jordan Spieth, the headliner of the top-50 bubble, surged into the lead at 5-under and shared it alongside Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama and Jake Knapp. Spieth looked comfortable and in control (as much as the fidgety, wild Spieth can), navigating through 18 holes without a bogey.
Tommy Fleetwood, a year removed from his heartbreaking loss here at TPC Southwind, put himself squarely in the mix again, one back of Spieth, ready to climb the mountain or be crushed by it again.
Viktor Hovland, the ever-volatile but recent TOUR winner who just reunited with an old coaching friend, Joe Mayo, is right there at 4 under, with whiffs of his 2023 Playoffs form that vaulted him into the conversation as the best player in the world.
Yes, the dreamers were out in full force in the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
There's possibly no more popular trio of potential winners than those three. Spieth trying to return to prominence. Fleetwood trying to validate his TOUR Championship victory. Hovland trying to officially turn the page on his lost years.
It all sounds so great, doesn't it? Maybe too great?
Spieth has flashed like this before this year. Yet he's still searching for his first top 10. Fleetwood will be defined by his final 18, not the first. The hard part is still a few days away. Predicting Hovland is a fool's errand. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship despite taking good form into all of them.
So pace yourself – this week and for the next few. If we're lucky, we will still be dreaming by the end of it. If you believe in precedence, reality isn't far away.
Speaking of that, let's look at the reality of the bubble. We'll track this every day. Here's who is projected to move in and out of the top-50 after the first round.
IN: T1. Spieth (52nd ➡️ 22nd); T1. Michael Kim (61st ➡️ 24th); T6. Sungjae Im (53rd ➡️ 44rd)
OUT: T60. Matt McCarty (48th ➡️ 53rd); T26. Keith Mitchell (49th ➡️ 52nd); T17. Maverick McNealy (50th ➡️ 51st)
My head was buried in my computer, unearthing myself from a morning of emails when a statement made on PGA TOUR LIVE on Thursday morning made my ears perk. Ludvig Åberg had just rolled in his third straight birdie, and one of the commentators said they believed Åberg would win multiple majors and double-digit TOUR events in his career.
This isn't about that claim. It very well may come true. Åberg has the talent to make it so.
Instead, it just made me sad. Because it made me think about another player who I vividly recall lighting it up at TPC Southwind four years ago – who I'm sure announcers were making similar declarations about but who is now out of our collective consciousness: Will Zalatoris.
Zalatoris, now 29, has made only five starts in the last 15 months. His last came at the Valero Texas Open in April. He hasn't played since and hasn't publicly said why. He's dealt with back injuries for several years and earlier this season missed time with an ankle injury. Whenever he returns, he will be playing on a medical exemption, trying to cling to full status.
When Zalatoris won the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship, he was younger than Åberg is now. Zalatoris had already finished runner-up in three majors with three other top-10 finishes. Ask anyone then, and Zalatoris would have seemed like a lock to play in the next several Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups, as Åberg has done. It's a reminder that success in pro golf is often fleeting and that long-term declarations are hard to live up to.
I spent part of Thursday afternoon rewatching some of Zalatoris' Memphis win. He holed a gutsy putt on the 18th to force a playoff with Sepp Straka and outlasted him in a nervy playoff to earn his first PGA TOUR win.
"Man, this guy could've won multiple majors and double-digit TOUR events," I thought to myself.
Maybe he still will.
