The post How 1 conversation gave Megan Khang the confidence boost she needed appeared first on Golf.

The post How 1 conversation gave Megan Khang the confidence boost she needed appeared first on Golf.

The FM ambassador and Massachusetts native recently joined me for a scoop of chocolate and cookies and cream to discuss playing in the U.S. Women’s Open at 14, how she keeps her game sharp during Boston’s long winters and a whole lot more.

Khang and I grew up just an hour away from each other, so I was excited to sit down with the golfer whose name I remember seeing in local newspapers as a kid. When I told a few people at the FM Championship I’d be interviewing her, they all said the same thing: Megan is the absolute best. They were right.

Khang’s energy is infectious. She’s kind, doesn’t take herself too seriously and she’s a great storyteller. By the time we were five minutes into our conversation, I felt like I was hanging out with an old friend.

During our conversation, Khang recalled her decision to go pro, and how it was a college visit that encouraged her to make the leap.

I went on an official visit to Wake Forest, and at the time, Dianne Dailey was the head coach and Kevin Diaz was the assistant coach. Diaz’s wife, Laura, was on the LPGA Tour. … They pulled my dad and me aside and were like, ‘So, you see what we have to offer. Do you want to come to school in the fall?’ And I looked at my dad and we chit chatted, being like ‘Oh, we don’t know yet.’ And Mr. Diaz was like, ‘Honestly, my wife plays on tour. I definitely think you can make it out there. You’ve got the game to. We can definitely help you with time management, but I definitely think you’re good enough to pursue it.’

That meant so much to me, because with his wife being on tour, he saw firsthand how hard it is to make it out there. And to have someone else outside of my family and friends believe in me the way he did, it meant a lot to me. … He has seen the best women out there compete … to have him believe in me, at 17, I took it very much to heart.

I always say I would’ve gone to Wake just for the loyalty that they gave when I was in the 8th grade and they offered a full scholarship. I’m very happy and grateful to have met Kevin Diaz and his family.

You can check out the whole interview below and on GOLF’s YouTube channel. Enjoy!

The post How 1 conversation gave Megan Khang the confidence boost she needed appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘This guy’s pretty serious’: How rising star Luke Clanton found his caddie appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘This guy’s pretty serious’: How rising star Luke Clanton found his caddie appeared first on Golf.

He made his professional debut earlier this month at the RBC Canadian Open, and I was super excited to sit down with the new pro considering all of his success. Turns out I left the interview an even bigger fan of Clanton — his personality, the way he talks about his sisters and his storytelling ability.

We discussed all sorts of things, from how he got into the game to a man on the street who helped grow his faith to his favorite movie.

Although one of my favorite stories he told was about how he met his caddie, Jason Wiertel.

I met Wiertel at the Drive, Chip and Putt finals at Augusta National the Sunday before the Masters. I was walking with my pals Gabby Herzig and Emma Devine when one of the tallest men I’ve ever seen approached Herzig, introduced himself to Devine and me and invited us to sit by the 18th green with him. Wiertel was there to support his daughter’s friends as they competed in the event and cheered for the kids as if they were his own.

The four of us sat together as he told us about every girl who was putting. Where they were from, what their family was like and how nervous they were. I’d never encountered someone so passionate about junior golf. He was over the moon for kids who weren’t even his own. I remember thinking that every junior athlete should have a support system that includes someone like Wiertel. After going our separate ways, I asked Herzig how she knew him. “That’s Luke Clanton’s caddie,” she said.

Fast forward to this episode of The Scoop. Herzig had told me a little bit about how Wiertel’s daughter played a role in him ending up on Clanton’s bag, and I wanted the full story.

“So we were at North & South Amateur, I guess it was the summer before going to college. So I was 18 … I was hitting balls on the member side, and I wasn’t technically supposed to be over there. But I was with a member and we were just hitting some balls and I saw a little girl and a big dude, like 6’7”. And I was like, who is this guy? I was hitting pitching wedges and the little girl walked over to me and said ‘How far do you hit your pitching wedge?’ We kinda started a conversation and Jason walked over. And Jason was talking to me and was just trying to pick my mind … He was like, ‘Do you have a caddie this week?’ And I said ‘Oh, I have Bill,’ who was an older gentleman, around 80 years old. I was like, ‘He’s probably not gonna caddie for match play.’ Wiertel goes, ‘Well, if you wanna win the tournament, I’ll take the bag.’

I was like, ‘Woah. Slow down a little man, I don’t know who you are.’ So through Instagram I found him, and we were texting a little bit back and forth. I was like ‘Here’s my tee time, it’s 6:50 in the morning. Match play. If you want to show up, show up.’ So I get there at like, 5:20 and he’s on the range with a towel in his back pocket. And I was like, ‘Okay, this guy’s pretty serious.’

So we never really spoke, we never hung out. We go to the first tee and we just kind of hit it off right away … We went on to win that week, and that’s not even the best part about it. When the ceremony was happening, I was giving a speech and I was looking around trying to find him. I couldn’t find him, so I texted him. I said ‘Where are you?’ He goes, ‘Oh, I’m caddying for my daughter.‘

So he drove right after we won, he drove immediately over to the golf course to caddie for his daughter for a nine-hole event. So I walked over there and I said to him, ‘Dude I want you on the bag. You’re not just a great person, but you’re a great father and you have good morals.’ So he caddied for me in multiple U.S. Amateurs and he’s caddied for me in a lot of PGA Tour events and now we’re here.”

Shout out to Lucy Wiertel for the role she played in getting her dad that gig. I’m glad the whole thing worked out!

The Scoop with Luke Clanton is now live on GOLF’s YouTube Channel. I think you’re going to enjoy this one!

The post ‘This guy’s pretty serious’: How rising star Luke Clanton found his caddie appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘There’s no Jim Nantz’: Nick Faldo recalls white-knuckle Masters broadcast moment appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘There’s no Jim Nantz’: Nick Faldo recalls white-knuckle Masters broadcast moment appeared first on Golf.

The six-time major champion joined me for a scoop of chocolate chocolate-chip ice cream to discuss all things golf: winning the 1990 Open Championship, his “dark days” that lasted two full years, the greatest lesson he’s learned in his 67 years, career highlights and a whole lot more.

I was particularly interested in talking to Faldo about his transition from playing golf to being on a broadcast team, and the learning curve that came with it. There’s obviously a big difference between teeing it up in a tournament and talking about it in the broadcast booth, but what surprised me most was how little training Faldo went through before beginning his television career. Here’s how he framed it:

“They throw you in the deep end, flat out. You put your ear phones on, they say [pointing], ‘Well, that’s your cough button, that’s if you want to talk to your producer,’ and off you go. We had zero guidance. Zero. And I just said, ‘You know what? My dad always said, just stick to what you know. Don’t get involved in politics or religion or anything.’ And I thought, yeah, I’ll just stick to golf. Don’t get carried away. And so, off I went…. But it’s pretty amazing. You have to learn to train yourself. And that takes time. And timing is very important in that world. To stop and listen and wait, which is tough when you first do it, because you’re like, ‘I want to do this,’ or ‘I want to say that.’ But you learn to let it breathe. ‘If it doesn’t happen now, I can get it maybe a few holes later or something, that thought.’ So you just learn to pace yourself.”

I imagine Faldo had so little training because he already knew the game so well, but, gosh, the nerves he must have felt being on air those first few times. That could not have been easy.

Faldo teamed up with Jim Nantz on CBS as the lead golf analyst in 2007, and his favorite memory with Nantz happens to be from their very first Masters together that same year.

“My favorite memory is actually my very first Masters with him. We’re still calling live golf through the internet [before the network telecast started], and we’re down to two minutes to go. And Tiger’s now going out, so of course we’re going to stay on. And Tiger is now throwing grass in the air. We’re down to one minute. We’re down to 30 seconds and then Jim — the only time Jim has an auto cue is maybe for those opening first lines of the Masters. That’s the only week. And then wallop, 30 seconds to go. Auto cue goes down. So Jim jumps out of his chair. We’re sitting in Butler Cabin and Jim goes into the back room with, you know that sound, technical stuff. And I’m sitting there and I hear, ’10 seconds.’  In our worlds, five seconds is nothing, is it?  But in TV, five seconds is monstrous right? And I hear ‘five seconds’ and there’s no Jim Nantz. And I’m sitting there and I think, ‘oh s***, it’s going to be me. I’m going to go, ‘Hello, I’m Jim Nantz. No, I’m not. I’m Nick Faldo. Well I won this, maybe I didn’t. Uh, welcome to the Masters CBS.’ So I’m panicked.  I had a split second of ‘what the heck.’  and Nantz just waltzes in, sits down and goes, ‘Hello, friends, welcome to the Masters.’  I’m like, [keels over]”. So that was my first Masters.”

 If that doesn’t tell you what a pro Nantz is, nothing will.

Faldo was an absolute pleasure to interview. His storytelling skills are second-to-none, as are his ice cream flavor preferences (I had never tried chocolate chocolate chip before!). So grab a scoop of ice cream, sit down and enjoy this interview, now on GOLF’s YouTube channel.

The post ‘There’s no Jim Nantz’: Nick Faldo recalls white-knuckle Masters broadcast moment appeared first on Golf.

The post Why this star amateur couldn’t leave Augusta National | The Scoop appeared first on Golf.

The post Why this star amateur couldn’t leave Augusta National | The Scoop appeared first on Golf.

The 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur contestants joined me for some Georgia Peach ice cream sandwiches (yes, those ones) ahead of their start at Champions Retreat and Augusta National this week to talk all things amateur golf, this event and more.

Ganne, Heck, Romero and Woad all shared hilarious anecdotes about golf superstitions, what they’ve learned from competing in this event and even getting locked in at Augusta National in 2023. Rachel Heck explained what happened to her following Rose Zhang’s win (note: the Kevin and Katie in this tale are Zhang’s reps from Excel Sports):

“Rose was kind enough to let me tag along for her victory tour after the round and the next day, and we had so much fun. So she finally got done with all her — I mean Lotte [Woad] knows better than I do what you do after you win at Augusta, but as she was doing all of those things, we went to No. 12 and took pictures, and it was super special. They reopened the gift shop for us to just go crazy in there… I was like, ‘Rose, you know you should buy me a little something.’ And so then it came time to leave and all the gates were closed, and it was just me, Rose, Kevin, Katie, just sitting there. We were calling people, but we were like, ‘I don’t know how many people have been like, begging to get out of Augusta. That was probably a unique experience.

“Some security guard eventually came, I don’t know who Kevin was calling over there. I was kind of having fun in the moment. I was soaking it in. I wasn’t too worried about leaving. I thought we could make a night out of it. Who does one call? Fred Ridley? I don’t know, but we made it out.”

Not many people can say they’ve teed it up at Augusta National, and even fewer can say they’ve gotten stuck there, but Rachel Heck is one of the lucky few.

Thanks so much to Ganne, Heck, Romero and Woad for sitting down with me ahead of this incredible week in Augusta. They are as welcoming, kind, smart, funny and as interesting as they come, which you’ll notice the moment you sit down for this episode of The Scoop.

The post Why this star amateur couldn’t leave Augusta National | The Scoop appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘Pardon my French’: Rickie Fowler says he wants this part of Lexi Thompson’s game appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘Pardon my French’: Rickie Fowler says he wants this part of Lexi Thompson’s game appeared first on Golf.

Lexi and Rickie, two of the most recognizable faces in the modern game, joined me for a scoop of cookie dough and chocolate ice cream (respectively) in Florida to discuss all things golf. From what these two have done for the game’s popularity to Rickie’s iconic Walker Cup teams and Lexi’s jump into Poppie’s Pond, we covered a lot of ground during the interview.

Lexi and Rickie have known each other for over 15 years thanks to their partnerships with Puma, so I was excited to ask them about each other’s game. I mean, they’ve clearly seen a lot of it, especially as partners at the Grant Thornton Invitational! So it was no surprise that they had high praise for each other when asked what part of the other’s game they wish they had.

“I love watching his game because it looks just so free and so easy,” Lexi said. “It doesn’t look like he’s overthinking anything, it’s just kind of a natural raw talent. Every time I watch him, I feel like he just gets up to it and hits it. He visualizes the shot he wants to hit and just goes for it. And I never really see him too upset out there. It’s just great to watch his game.”

Rickie echoed similar praises for his fellow Puma athlete.

“I feel like she’s out there and is fearless,” he said. “She just wants to go get it done. Obviously, she’s won plenty of times and there’s times when it doesn’t work out, and she, pardon my french, but she works her a– off. I think some of her work ethic is something I would maybe benefit from.”

There you have it folks. If the best in the world can learn from each other’s games, you and I definitely can, too.

Being able to watch pros like Rickie and Lexi compete together is what makes the Grant Thornton such a special event, and knowing how much they respect each other’s game makes this the perfect golf pairing.

So grab a scoop of ice cream (or two), settle in and join Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson on the latest episode of the Scoop! I think you’ll enjoy it.

The post ‘Pardon my French’: Rickie Fowler says he wants this part of Lexi Thompson’s game appeared first on Golf.

The post What this PGA Tour winner would ‘redo’ if given the chance appeared first on Golf.

The post What this PGA Tour winner would ‘redo’ if given the chance appeared first on Golf.

The 2024 Mexico Open champion and 15th PGA Tour player to fire a sub-60 round joined me for a scoop of cookie dough ice cream to discuss his journey to the PGA Tour, how to increase swing speed and why fitness is such a pivotal part of his life.

I also made sure to ask Knapp what it feels like to win a Tour event, because let’s face it: It’s a feat most of us will never accomplish.

“It’s a bit surreal,” he said. “I’m not a very emotional person, but I just wanted to get emotional, because you know that everything, like, the years and everything leading up to that, it’s all been leading up to that point. And it wasn’t one of those, where you win and you’re like, ‘Oh, this is it’ sort of thing. It was just definitely one of those where it’s like a big exhale almost when it’s done.”

As for what he would change? Taking some time off afterward to soak it all in.

“That’s probably the only thing I would take back, maybe, or if I could redo, it would have been nice to be able to soak it in, go see my family, celebrate a little bit,” he said. “Because I flew that night, I played in a pro-am the next morning. I then went and prepared for the next golf tournament start on Thursday. And then I played the Arnold Palmer the next week, played the Players the next week. I didn’t get a week off until after that. So it was a lot of golf in a short stint. Probably would’ve been good to take a break.”

So, folks: If you ever find yourself winning a PGA Tour event (or, more likely, the net division of your local member-guest), make sure to soak it all in. Take a day off work. Celebrate with the people you love. Work will always be waiting for you.

The post What this PGA Tour winner would ‘redo’ if given the chance appeared first on Golf.

The post 1 swing tip amateurs should ignore, according to Padraig Harrington appeared first on Golf.

The post 1 swing tip amateurs should ignore, according to Padraig Harrington appeared first on Golf.

Lowering your handicap is an addicting pursuit — but it requires a certain level of discipline. In the current age of social media, there’s an infinite wealth of swing-tip videos with promises of fixing your game. The problem is, lots of this content isn’t actually all that helpful.

If you are really serious about improvement, it’s important to listen to the best in the business. Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington is one of them. In recent years, he’s begun sharing some of his best swing tips with the masses on his YouTube channel.

Harrington has also heard his fair share of poor golf advice, and on the latest episode of The Scoop, he shared with our Claire Rogers one common swing tip he recommends amateurs ignore.

Ignore this swing advice

You’ve probably heard at some point or another that you need to keep your head still during the golf swing, but that advice shouldn’t always be followed. Being stagnant during the swing tends to rob you of athleticism and power, which will do nothing but hurt your game.

“You don’t want to lock things down,” Harrington says. “You’re trying to swing a golf club the same way you swung any stick as a kid.”

What does he mean by that? It’s all about keeping things natural.

“Get that movement going, get that speed going,” Harrington says. “And then we can tidy it up later on. If you lose that athleticism and that dynamic bit of your swing, you don’t ever get it back.”

It’s much easier to teach yourself how to hit the ball straight than it is to learn how to hit the ball far, so it’s important you keep as much athleticism in your swing as possible. If you can do that, it’ll be much easier to lower your handicap than it would be if you stayed stagnant.

Check out the entire episode of The Scoop below.

The post 1 swing tip amateurs should ignore, according to Padraig Harrington appeared first on Golf.

The post Padraig Harrington’s best advice for golf parents might surprise you appeared first on Golf.

The post Padraig Harrington’s best advice for golf parents might surprise you appeared first on Golf.

The three-time major champion and instruction fanatic joined me for a scoop of chocolate and vanilla ice cream (why pick just one? There are no rules on The Scoop!) to discuss all things golf.

I’ve become a big fan of Padraig Harrington over the last few years. I mean, I’ve always appreciated his game, don’t get me wrong. But it wasn’t until I really started watching the PGA Tour Champions press conferences that I realized just how much the Irishman loves talking golf. At the U.S. Senior Open last June, Harrington turned what could’ve been a 10-minute chat with the media into a 30-minute one. When my coworker, Zephyr Melton, asked him about instruction, Harrington gave a long, thoughtful answer with examples. He wanted to make sure Zeph’s question was properly answered. After that, I knew he’d be a dream guest for The Scoop.

Harrington and I discussed a lot, including how he almost became an accountant, his favorite pro-am moments and the biggest mistakes he makes casual golfers make, but his advice for parents of athletes is what stuck out to me the most. He had a lot to say on the subject.

“Look, you can’t force your kids to do anything. You’ve got to bring them along and put them in an environment that they’re going to enjoy. And once they’re enjoying it, they’re gonna like the sport … bring them to a place where you’re certainly not putting any stress on them … It doesn’t matter what skill level they are. As parents, we get very anxious. We want to jump in and help our kids get better straight away because we think they don’t have time. They have all the time in the world. They don’t need to be better next weekend. They’ve got years to get better. I think we’re anxious to get them better straight away. They’ll find a way themselves. They’ll figure it out. I think we get anxious to try and get them there quick, instead of letting them at their own pace and enjoy it.”

“If you want your kids to be good at sports, put them somewhere where they’re bored and where they have nothing else to do. Again, if you went to most professional golfers, we cycled up to the club all summer, 9:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the day and just hung out there cuz there was nothing else to do … If you want them to be good, let them hang out with their friends, play football in the field, and they get that love. They join the local club and they go on like that.”

So there you have it, folks. Let your kids be bored! Let them hang out with friends and discover their own love for the game we all love. And make sure to check out this episode of The Scoop, now on GOLF’s YouTube page.

The post Padraig Harrington’s best advice for golf parents might surprise you appeared first on Golf.

The post A gift from Rickie Fowler helped Michelle Wie West win the U.S. Open — here’s how appeared first on Golf.

The post A gift from Rickie Fowler helped Michelle Wie West win the U.S. Open — here’s how appeared first on Golf.

The women’s golf icon, five-time LPGA Tour champion and 2014 U.S. Women’s Open winner joined me for a scoop of vanilla ice cream (with rainbow sprinkles) to discuss all things golf.

You can find the full interview in a couple paragraphs, but first: a little backstory.

I first became a fan of Michelle Wie’s when I attended the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open at Rhode Island’s own Newport Country Club. So getting a chance to sit down with her wasn’t just incredible access to a golf legend and entrepreneur — it was a literal childhood dream come true. We took a trip down memory lane, with Wie West walking me through her junior golf career, her time at Stanford, how she knew it was time to take a step back from competing and even how Rickie Fowler’s yardage book helped her win the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst.

Let’s focus there for a second: In June of 2014, the men and women played back-to-back U.S. Open Championships at Pinehurst No. 2. Wie West was thinking ahead and asked Rickie Fowler if she could have his yardage book after his week at the U.S. Open so she could see Fowler’s notes and have a “cheat guide.” Wie West says that Fowler went above and beyond. After he finished tied for second at Pinehurst, he handed off his yardage book to Wie West.

“He took so many notes being like, ‘this bunker, you shouldn’t be here for this pin, you should be there for that pin,’ and the system of how he did it, I learned a lot from looking at his yardage book. But he also wrote down like, every single break that he had on most of the holes, and most of our pin positions were very similar. And on 17, the birdie putt that I made, he actually had the same putt and wrote down the break.”

Wie West says that she signed Fowler’s yardage book after her win and returned it to him. Power move!

Dive into this episode of the Scoop to learn more about the professional golfer and mother of two, now live on GOLF’s YouTube Channel.

The post A gift from Rickie Fowler helped Michelle Wie West win the U.S. Open — here’s how appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘I actually cried’: Jordan Spieth’s caddie reveals 1 regret that still haunts him appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘I actually cried’: Jordan Spieth’s caddie reveals 1 regret that still haunts him appeared first on Golf.

Which isn’t to say there haven’t been a few lows, too.
 
Though he has accumulated three major titles among 13 total PGA Tour wins in what will be a Hall of Fame career, Spieth has had a roller-coaster run. For every big victory, he’s endured a handful of painful losses.
 
In the latest episode of The Scoop with GOLF’s Claire Rogers, Rogers asked Greller if there was one mistake that sticks out in his time on Spieth’s bag. It didn’t take long for Greller to identify the one decision he wishes he could “re-do” — from the 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews.

Lifestyle

“For me, that was the hardest loss,” Greller began.  “A caddie once told me the better a player you work for the more great wins you’re going to have, and the more tough losses you’re going to have. You want to work for the greats, and you’re going to have those tough losses.”
 
Heading into the 2015 Open at St. Andrews, Spieth already had won the Masters and the U.S. Open earlier that year. On Sunday on the Old Course, he had a chance to win his third major of the season but failed to birdie either of the final two holes to earn a spot in a playoff.
 
The moment that still stings Greller today, he said, came on 18 when Spieth came up short with his approach, leaving himself with an all but unmakeable birdie putt and ending his title hopes. Greller still thinks about his boss’s club selection.
 
“If I had a re-do,” Greller said, “he ended up hitting a gap wedge, he was left and he was being aggressive because he was trying to make birdie there on the 18th hole at St. Andrews. And he ended up coming…short and it came all the way back down to the bottom, and he had to make a 40-footer to get in the playoff. But in hindsight I wish he would have hit it to 20 feet behind it.”
 
Greller’s reaction in the moment spoke to how much he burned to win.
 
“I actually cried after that one I was so upset,” he said. “And not just that decision… it was just he was on the cusp of having a great chance to literally win the first three majors. Then he ended up getting solo-second at Whistling Straits that year at the PGA. He was not far off from winning all four majors  So that’s probably one that I think about.”
 
You watch Greller’s full appearance on The Scoop below, or on GOLF.com’s YouTube page here.

The post ‘I actually cried’: Jordan Spieth’s caddie reveals 1 regret that still haunts him appeared first on Golf.