Phil Mickelson Vs. Brandel Chamblee, Emiliano Grillo Gets It Done At Colonial, HV3 Secures His Much-Wanted Bag, The Brandt Snedeker Return
There is always a post-major championship hangover, but the week following Brooks Koepka's PGA Championship win at Oak Hill turned out to be a rather entertaining one with Emiliano Grillo playing a large role.
While the big-time names in the field for the Charles Schwab Challenged didn't make much noise - other than Scottie Scheffler - it was fun to watch Grillo, Harry Hall, and Adam Schenk battle down the stretch at a completely baked-out Colonial. Not only did we get a playoff, we had to track a golf ball running down a stream on the 72nd hole of the tournament.
While the late drama and playoff on the PGA Tour took any attention off of the LIV Golf event in D.C., Harold Varner III was able to earn his first win on the circuit. He's been honest from the get-go that he left the Tour for LIV for the money, which he secured plenty of with his one-shot victory.
Off the golf course, we had two people who love to hear themselves talk in Phil Mickelson and Brandel Chamblee go back-and-forth on Twitter, which is never not entertaining.
There is plenty to get into, as per usual, in this week's edition of Par Talk.
Emiliano Grillo Earns A Win And Plenty Of New Fans
What a weekend it was for Emiliano Grillo. The Argentinian began his third round on Saturday three-under thru two holes before crumbling down the stretch to shoot two over. He woke up on Sunday four shots back of the lead but became a two-time PGA Tour winner when it was all said and done despite nearly giving the tournament away.
The Argentinian elected to go with driver on the short Par 4 18th and proceeded to hit it a mile right. When he arrived at his ball it wasn't sitting still, instead, it was moving down a man-made stream, and moving back toward the tee.
Before ultimately taking a drop and playing his third shot from concrete, a cameraman had to follow his golf ball for a few minutes as it ran down the waterway. The tournament leader's golf ball running down a stream on the final hole of the tournament is a new one, and objectively hilarious.
Grillo made double bogey on the hole before ultimately beating Schenk on the second playoff hole, but it was the moment right after his disastrous final hole that caught everyone's attention.
Instead of sulking and sweating Schenk play the final hole and possibly stealing the win away from him, Grillo kept things light and pulled a couple of young fans under the ropes to let them hit a few shots.
This is a guy who may have just cost himself a win and hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he was as cool as can be.
If you believe in good will, it's hard not to think the golf gods didn't give Emiliano Grillo the edge in the playoff after the awesome moment.
Harold Varner III's LIV Win Brings Things Full Circle
Harold Varner III is one of the most likable guys in golf. He's just a good dude that grinded his way onto the PGA Tour and has been his true self every step of the way, which can be said about his move to LIV Golf.
Shortly after joining LIV in August 2022, HV3 jumped on social media and explained his decision, which had everything to do with money and supporting his family.
“The opportunity to join LIV Golf is simply too good of a financial breakthrough for me to pass by. I know what it means to grow up without much. This money is going to ensure that my kid and future Varners will have a solid base to start on – and a life I could have only dreamt about growing up,” Varner wrote on his Instagram.
Harold Varner III earned his much-coveted win at LIV Golf D.C. (USA Today/Imagn)
It's easy, and warranted, to call out certain players who joined LIV and avoided talking about money playing a factor in their decision. HV3 took the exact opposite approach and said what everyone was already thinking: he joined LIV to secure the bag.
Varner III shot 8-under in the opening round of LIV D.C. before struggling a bit on Saturday by posting a score of even par. He followed that up by shooting 3-under on Sunday, which was good enough to beat Branden Grace by a shot.
With the win, Varner III earned $4 million. He had picked up just over $10.6 million over the course of 191 PGA Tour events before joining LIV Golf.
Phil Mickelson And Brandel Chamblee Don't Like Each Other
Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee has consistently been the most outspoken person against LIV Golf, and Phil Mickelson has been his target more often than not.
Chamblee went viral just after Koepka won the PGA Championship for looking foolish during a back-and-forth with Brad Faxon about American LIV players potentially representing the country in this year's Ryder Cup.
In the most on-brand fashion imaginable, Chamblee took a few days before he responded to all of his critics and did so with an incredibly lengthy tweet using words nobody in the modern world uses.
Mickelson, along with every other person that follows the sport, saw Chamblees' tweets and the video with Faxon and had to share his opinion about the situation.
Chamblee later sent out an open invite for Mickelson to join Golf Channel's coverage of next month's U.S. Open, but the lefty has no desire to prop up the network.
Mickelson could simply not give Chamblee any attention, but it's easy to see that he's sat back as long as he can and is tired of the slander. Mickelson may be on the other side of 50 now, but his voice still carries weight among those who aren't outrageously anti-LIV.
The Brandt Snedeker Return?
Brandt Snekder is listed in the field of players for this week's Memorial, which comes as a surprise to many.
The former FedEx Cup champion and nine-time Tour winner last teed it up in September 2022 at the Fortinet Championship after going through his fair share of hardships over the last two years or so.
Snedeker had been bitten by the injury bug on a number of occasions, and during the height of the pandemic lost both of his parents just eight months apart. While he played a full schedule during the 2021-22 season, he made just eight cuts in 22 starts.
Outside of a story from January 2022 it's been very quiet on the Snedeker front, but as of Monday, he's set to make his first start on Tour in 2023 this week.
Snedker was a Top 100 player in the world at the start of the 2021 season but has since fallen all the way to 722nd in the Official World Golf Ranking.
It'll be interesting to see how Sneds, one of the best putters of his generation during his prime, performs at Memorial as well as how many other starts he plans on making this season.
Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris