Wait.. Am I about to see a historic sports moment?

Frank Kaminsky8/16/2018 5:30 PM

Alex:

The 19th Hole (aka 4 & a half hour drive home)

Driving home Sunday night back to Chicago was a weird experience. Matt and I were still on sensory overload from what we saw on Saturday and Sunday. For the drive home, we were trying to figure out exactly what we witnessed. The 100th PGA championship at Bellerive was a special event on many different levels, and we left feeling like we had watched what could have been, and in many ways still was, a historic tournament in golf history.

A little backstory, before we begin… Matt & I were given free tickets to this event by our great friend who happens to be a PGA golf professional at Bellerive. This allowed us otherwise-impossible inside-access to everything that was going on at the tournament. Most notably, we had the best seats in the house at the 18th green on Sunday (President of the PGA Paul Levy was standing directly next to us when Tiger sunk his putt to go -14). A tall, very skinny guy who was kneeling directly in front of us for the past hour stood up and followed Tiger out. Everyone was so captivated in the moment by Tiger’s performance, nobody noticed the greatest Olympian of all-time, Michael Phelps, walking right through the crowd like a “normal” person. In that moment, Tiger Woods was no question the most famous athlete in the world, once again.

The Needle

It’s been said that Tiger moves the needle more than anyone else in any sport. By that I mean he brings more attention to his sport simply by playing. Based on what I saw on Saturday and Sunday, I think there was a realization that every player in the field will have to accept that notion as fact until Tiger retires. Tiger Woods doesn’t just move the needle… he is the needle

Matt and I were able to see most of Tiger’s remaining 2nd round on Saturday morning; they had to stop play because it was pouring most of Friday, so we got to see him with less of a crowd than usual. Everyone was, of course, optimistic that Tiger would put forth a competitive performance. But after a mediocre Thursday and many missed opportunities on Saturday morning to finish his second round, we were doubtful that Tiger would have a realistic chance to win. Tiger is 42-years-old, and he had to go out and play another 18 in the heat. He had to play 30 holes in one day and shoot 66 or lower in each of the final two rounds to even have a realistic chance.

The Crowd

I have been to three of what I consider “historic” games in my life. The first of which being Wisconsin vs. Kentucky in the Final Four in 2015; the second being Game 5 of the 2016 World Series: Cubs vs. Indians at Wrigley Field (only game the Cubs won at home); and the 100th PGA Championship this past weekend. All of these events standout in my mind because of the atmosphere that was created by the crowd.

No disrespect to my friend Frank or to the Cubs, but this past weekend’s crowd in St. Louis was the best I have ever seen. Any time Tiger birdied a hole, every single person at Bellerive knew what happened. There was a collective sense of community amongst the crowd. As my friends and I ran to our spot at the 18th green, the crowd was swarming and every person was asking the same question: “Is this actually going to happen?”

At this moment, I asked my friend Mike: “What are we about to see?” His answer: “Potentially the most historic moment in the history of golf.” I started to think in historical perspectives. “Am I about to see Babe Ruth call his shot?” “Am I about to see Muhammad Ali knockout Frazier?” It was a weird moment of clarity. This was something in my entire life I never thought I would see. The entire crowd seemed to be thinking that same thing.

…..and it didn’t happen.

The 18th green

We still got to see a vintage Tiger moment up-close-and-personal. With Michael Phelps directly in front of us & Paul Levy (PGA President) to the right of us, we all roared when Tiger made his final birdie to give him at least a chance at a playoff opportunity if Koepka were to implode on the final two holes. Everyone in the crowd seemed to be holding their breath, anxiously hoping & praying that Koepka would slip up…

30 minutes later Brooks Koepka would deservedly be crowned champion, and this amazing tournament would come to an end. Despite the blue-balls left behind by seeing Tiger rise to the occasion only to come up just a bit short in the end, nobody in the crowd could truly leave the tournament upset. We all knew we had witnessed something special. Selfishly, of course, I wished Tiger could have avoided some of his mistakes throughout the week and won this event. In a lot of ways, this tournament will be a conflicting memory for everyone involved. On one hand, we got to see arguably the greatest golfer of all-time shoot his lowest score ever on a Sunday at a major. And then on the other hand, that player took second, and we will have to wait until next spring for him to compete for another major. Which I will most likely not be in attendance for.

My final thought as I got dropped off at my apartment back in Chicago, before I went to bed early Monday morning, was this: I undoubtedly saw the best golf event of the last decade, which can only be topped if (*when*) Tiger finally does win that elusive next major, and I am jealous of those who will be lucky enough to see him win it.

Dirty Dor:

The 100th PGA Championship in the moment as the tournament progressed.

It’s hot; we’re sweaty; we’re drunk, but it’s one of those “we’ve been outside all day in the beating sun” kind of drunks. We maneuvered all over the course trying to outsmart the rest of the crowd, walking something like 16 miles in the two days we were out there… but holy shit was it worth it.

Alex and I are probably like most of you reading this: not the best golfers but also not the worst out there. So yea, I was excited to come down to the PGA Championship forsure but, ya know, it’s a golf tournament.. how cool can it actually be?

I love watching golf hungover on Sundays, lying on the couch, trying to forget about the fact that I’ve gotta go to work Monday morning and make fucking cold calls, so I just let Uncle Jim and that silky sweet voice of his take me away. But I’d never been to a tournament, much less a PGA Championship, so I honestly had no idea what to expect.

Well, turns out it’s incredibly fucking cool and was one of the most surreal events I’ve ever witnessed in-person. Afterwards, we were talking with a lady who works for the PGA, and she said, “I’ve been to a lot of tournaments, been to two Ryder Cups, and five PGAs – without a doubt, this was the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen. This was the best event we’ve ever put on.”

I’m going to give you all my highlights and as many pictures/videos as I can fit in this thing, because let’s face it, I’m sure you’ve read a lot of coverage already but maybe not seen and actually heard what it was like to be there.

And to preface this… yea, there’s going to be a lot of Tiger coverage. Being in-person to see the greatest golfer of our generation in contention on Saturday and Sunday, trying to win his first major since extensive back surgery, off the course issues, and doubts that he would ever compete again is one of the coolest sports moments I’ve ever had.

Cool story from the Tournament – Ben Kern:

kern1 Ben Kern, who is the head pro at Georgetown Country Club, was one of 20 PGA club pros from around the country to participate in the tournament, and he was the only non-PGA tour player to make the cut. With his 275 lb stature and saggy bucket hat, Kern would not initially strike you as a high-level competitor. Most people would have guessed him correctly as the lone non-Tour player still playing over the weekend, with his long sleeve undershirt covering his tattoos in the sweltering August heat. Yet, he still managed to go out and shoot -2 for the tournament. For reference, Phil Mickelson shot +4 and failed to make the cut.

Highlights:

Saturday Morning – Wishing “Good luck” to Fat Titty Phil:

We had just arrived at the course Saturday morning and literally the first thing I did was wish Phil and his glorious B cups “good luck.” He was going out to finish his second round because of a rain delay the prior day and had some work to do.Phil finished +4… those voluptuous cups sadly never made it past high noon.

Saturday Morning – Seeing Tiger warming up:

Literally right after we passed Phil, we went to the clubhouse to drop off our stuff. Next up, we spotted Tiger on the putting green… I mean, we were promptly kicked out of there almost as soon as we walked through the door, but it was worth it. Big Cat (not the die hard Tiger fan) was warming up, getting ready to make a charge, and eventually finish off a
-6 round.

Sunday – 11th hole

So, we had been inside watching the front 9 after seeing Rory chip-in, hoping, praying that Tiger was going to make a push and we were going to get a chance at seeing history. Well, Tiger goes out and shoots a fucking -3 on the front (after not hitting a SINGLE fairway), putting himself 2 off Brooks.

We booked it.

Ran up to 10, jumped under the ropes to 1 to get around the crowd, sprinted down 2 and got over to the 11th green. We eventually made our way to the trees about 90 yards out from the green so we could see the approach shot… which wasn’t the best – left it about 30 feet out. Watching that putt on the jumbotron… to not have it fall was unreal… every single person that could see the green around 11 started to scream. People were jumping up and down trying to literally will the ball drop home, but it never did… while Brooks continued to drain birdies.

Sunday – Tiger making a charge/Tee shot at 15:

We ran over to 15 to wait for Tiger after his par at 11. Little tip if you go to any Major next year and try to watch Tiger: plan to get at least two holes in front of him if you want any chance at a good view. Don’t be a lemon and follow the crowd; get in front of all of them or else you’ll be twenty rows deep.

So we’re waiting there and Tiger is making his charge… goes birdie, birdie on 12 and 13, and this was one of the coolest moments of the tournament for me: there’s the official scoreboard behind the 14th green and the attendant goes to change Tiger’s score…

Fucking NUTS. It’s a feeling that I’ve never really had at a sporting event – everyone at the place pulling, willing one person to win.

Makes the bogey on 14, so we know that Tiger needs a bounce-back here on 15 to have a chance, but again, with how good this tournament was and with how many other players were in contention with a legit shot to win this thing… all anyone was doing was rooting for Tiger to bounce-back – make a birdie and have a shot.

And, of course, he pipes it. Wasn’t able to control his driver all day, and then stripes one when he needs it the most.

Running to the 18th Green

We sprinted as soon as Tiger hit his tee shot. Knowing that we were late already, we asked Mike what we were going to do for the finish because we obviously couldn’t miss Tiger.

Mike: “Whatever I do, just put your heads down and follow me.”

Basically, we were those assholes who try to get past you at a crowded bar or concert, just add like 20,000 people to that venue. We shoved our way up to the front, right side of the green where we stood with our heads down. Then Mike just pointed over to this green-ish cage and said, “Jump in” (this Box was supposed to be for the CBS camera crew team, but for whatever reason they didn’t use it, which created a perfect box for us).

So yea, there we were. 100th PGA Championship. Bellerive. Sunday afternoon on 18. Hoping that Tiger could make history, but even though his odds of winning were miniscule, knowing that we’d already seen something special. We got to witness Tiger in legitimate contention on a Sunday, trying to win his 15h Major and honestly, before two days ago, I never really grasped the magnitude of what that meant.

When Tiger sank that birdie to get to -14 and pulled out the vintage fist pump and the crowd reacted like he had won the fucking thing, I got goosebumps. It clicked that we had just seen something that we wouldn’t ever forget.

Wrap-up

So one thing Alex and I had been wondering all weekend was: do single girls go to golf tournaments? It seemed like every “single” (not married/engaged) girl we saw was with her boyfriend, significant other, or family, and frankly, that was probably the only disappointing part of the weekend.

But, of course, after the tournament finished, we’re standing there in the cage just watching Brooks do all his interviews and photoshoots, and these two angels (girls) come out of nowhere right next to us in the cage.

We started talking with them… turns out they drove in that morning from Cincinnati just to watch Tiger play on Sunday. They said they saw us walk through the crowd and jump into the cage and thought we were important (lol). Really would have probably been a good idea to try and at least get the girls’ names, but ya know, Alex and I are idiots, what else can I say? They were just like us – had work the next morning and were driving back that night, so yea, talk about shitty timing. If anyone knows the two girls that drove in from Cincy on Sunday for the PGA, help some guys out, would ya?

Ultimately, can confirm, if you can find them around the 18th green, there are single smokes at golf tournaments.

Official Scorecard:

We all know how it ended. Brooks didn’t give an inch and finished it off to win his 3rd major in his last six tries. Honestly, with Brooks on a heater, and JT, DJ, Rory, Spieth, Rickie, Rose, Rahm, and Fleetwood all playing at an incredibly high level, I’d say golf is in a good spot right about now.

Now you throw an icon and living legend back into the mix. You insert a guy who many believe is the greatest player ever back into a field like this and holy shit are we in for a treat on Sundays.

Finally I want to give a special shout-out to Mike Keogh, one of our best friends and PGA pro at Bellerive. Thanks for pulling out all the stops and letting us come down to an event that we will never forget.