Would Jon Rahm take a bribe to help a fellow player avoid military service? What did Tony Finau and Dustin Johnson now know about? How much can Lee Westwood be bought for? And why has Max Homa got Bones on his bag this week?
Friday 21 May 2021 00:36, UK
Jon Rahm revealing he'd be open to bribery, Lee Westwood chasing a £50m contract, and Tony Finau not knowing about the use of range-finders. Here are some of the more unusual lines to have come out ahead of the PGA Championship ...
Sungjai Im is the latest South Korean golfer who will lose two years of his professional career when he returns to his homeland to serve a compulsory two years in the military.
All men between the ages of 18 and 28 are required by law to complete a 24-month military service, but there is one way out of it for Im - win a medal at the Olympic Games.
A top-three finish in Tokyo this summer would make Im exempt from his military service, and Rahm made a startling revelation when considering a hypothetical situation at the Olympics.
"Well, I would say if we're fighting for fourth and third place, I'm open for bribing if he needs me to make a three-putt on the last hole," said Rahm.
"We can always talk about it. I like Korean food. We can always talk about it."
With talk of the proposed, mega-money Super League Golf providing distractions for many high-profile players in the field, one player has admitted he would happily sign up for a multi-million dollar contract.
But when that player is 48-year-old Lee Westwood, you'd be correct in guessing that his comments were made with tongue very much embedded in cheek.
Reports of a breakaway competition re-emerged earlier this month, with Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose rumoured to have been offered staggering sums of money to compete in the SLG, backed by Saudi investors.
Rory McIlroy reiterated his disinterest in joining a circuit he described as a "money grab", comparing the proposals to the controversial European Super League which rocked the world of football a couple of weeks ago.
Westwood, though, gave a wry smile as he declared his interest in grabbing the money.
"I think there's pluses and minuses for everything," Westwood said. "I think they've obviously got a lot of money and they've come out and sent a few shockwaves about and people feel threatened. The people that feel threatened are trying to combat it.
"For me at nearly 50 it's a no-brainer, isn't it? If somebody stood here and offered me 50 million quid to play golf when I'm 48, it's a no-brainer."
The PGA of America raised some eyebrows a few months ago when they announced that players would be permitted to use range finders during the PGA Championship this week.
The hope is that zooming in on a flagstick from 200 yards away will prevent player and caddie scratching their heads while working out distances from certain landmarks and painted blobs - thus speeding up the pace of play.
The move has been a hot topic of discussion in the build-up to the second major of the season, but big-hitting Tony Finau clearly has a few unread emails.
When asked if he and his caddie would use range finders or the traditional yardage books, Finau was genuinely confused and taken aback.
"You mean, like during the tournament, we're able to use a ... we really are? We can use our range finders during competition? I didn't know that!
I haven't had time to think about it. But I'm sure I'll just refer to what I'm used to, which is just looking at the yardage book, walking it off with my caddie. There's a lot more numbers, I think, than just the flagstick for us.
"But that's interesting. I didn't know that. I'll tell my caddie and then we'll do some work with it."
Dustin Johnson's press conferences have become a series of one-sentence answers, short, sharp and snappy, with the world No 1 appearing set on getting away from media scrutiny as fast as he can.
And there are usually one or two questions that either leave him flummoxed, or that he simply cannot be bothered to answer!
The PGA Championship was no exception, and the laughter echoed around the press centre when he was asked which putter he would be putting into play at Kiawah Island.
"A TaylorMade," he replied.
"I understand that, but which model?"
"Honestly I don't even know the name of it. It's a TaylorMade, though."
"People say that you like to change putters often, so I thought we should find out what one you're using on the paspalum greens."
"I really don't like to change clubs ever, but when one's not working, yeah, I have to find something else."
"What colour is it?"
"It's silver with a white shaft."
Thanks for coming DJ!
Max Homa has a familiar face as his caddie at Kiawah Island, but it's not his regular looper, Joe Greiner.
Phil Mickelson's long-time caddie, Jim "Bones" Mackay will carry the bag for Homa on the Ocean Course after Greiner entered the US Amateur Fourball Championship, which starts on Saturday in Washington.
"I'm imagining that Joe was a bit freaked out because now I didn't have a caddie for a major," Homa told the Get a Grip podcast. "Bones is one of the nicest, greatest people I've ever been around.
"I have the utmost respect for Joe's caddieing, and this is not a slight at all, so please believe me when I say that, but it'll be really cool to be around someone like Bones who is, quote unquote, a real caddie.
"Joe has learned his way into this; not that Bones didn't, but he's been doing this forever. He's been on the bag for a bunch of majors, major champions, he's just kind of seen it all: Ryder Cups, Presidents Cups. He's just probably one of the best minds in golf."
Is it a coincidence that Greiner opted to leave Homa in the lurch instead of lugging a heavy golf bag around the longest layout in major championship history?
