Quail Hollow Diary: Rahm flies two flags, bad weather good for business

Irish Examiner

18-05-2025

Rahm flies two flags but LIV's lights mostly fail to shine
Jon Rahm headed into Sunday six shots back of Scottie Scheffler but determined to fly the flag. Which flag though? Both Spanish and Saudi Arabian hopes rested on the big man's shoulders.
How the breakaway tour's lack of competitiveness affects its stars is a common Major week debate. Here in Charlotte it arose again.
'It is hard to express how hungry I may be for a major,' Rahm said after his Saturday 67 moved him somewhere he hasn't been for some time. 'Me going to LIV and playing worse in majors had nothing to do with where I was playing golf.' Of the 16 LIV men in the field just eight made the cut, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, particularly, bombing out in mortifying fashion.
The final day began with just two of the remaining eight — Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau inside the top 35. Among early Sunday moves, LIV men like Tom McKibbin, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia were going backwards.
This year's race for the Wanamaker marks 12 Majors since LIV launched. Just two of the previous 11 were won by those who took the Saudi soup. A report last week put the Kingdom's investment to date at $5bn. The returns continue to feel diminishing.
Weather delays speed up things at the tills
Saturday's steamy rain delay robbed Rory McIlroy of the chance to get out early and make up ground before weekend winds picked up.
In all, the PGA pushed back the third round by almost four hours with the intervening time filled with more willing robberies.
The 50,000-square foot tournament megastore which hugs the first fairway was a chaotic hive of capitalism during the weather delay as punters filled time by filling PGA coffers. $110 T-shirts were flying off racks. Standing in the middle of it all it was hard not to marvel at its clinical wallet-emptying efficiency.
Getting the six-packs in shape for 2026
Speaking of swift business, this year's edition was not nearly over before attentions turned to the 2026 PGA Championship.
A delegation from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, home of Aronimink Golf Club which hosts next year invaded the Media Centre here Saturday to shower the world's press with gifts, branded golf balls, keychains and pretzels aplenty.
The tourism chiefs knew how to seal the deal, wheeling in crates of Delco Lager, their local tipple. Some thirsty media men were spotted scarpering out the door with multiple six-packs under their arm.
Arsenal talk has us ready for home
For the sake of sanity, and maybe security, we've done our best to avoid political talk here.
The orange fella in An Teach Bán won North Carolina handily. Country clubs are unlikely to be bastions of resistance either.
At Examiner HQ the other night we got chatting to another PGA Championship blow-in over a patio beverage. A former US Navy officer who now works for the Department of Justice, it seemed inevitable that we'd turn to matters Trumpian but his tone was that of someone who doesn't own a MAGA hat. A civilized, cerebral sort, we thought.
About 20 minutes in, a throwaway comment about police weaponry was the spark for him to reveal he's an arsenal fan, of sorts: 'oh man, I love guns. I have over 300 firearms at home.' Fire up that Aer Lingus bird pronto. Time to get out.