Andy said it best on his Sunday Truist Championship preview podcast and his weekly article that the Philadelphia golf culture takes pride in our fast and challenging greens. With Philly Cricket playing around 7100-7200 yards, which is very short for PGA Tour standards, players will be hitting a ton of greens with their wedges. Putting performance is going to be very important this week to separate from the field on these tough greens.

Over the last 75 rounds, here are the top 10 players in the field who have gained the most strokes on fast greens:

Keegan Bradley possesses the exact blend of short iron approach play, Bent-grass putting, and comfortability on championship Northeast golf courses that I am looking for this week, and the Ryder Cup captain is in desperate need of a strong performance if he wishes to qualify for the team on points. Keegan has already won the Travelers, another Bent-grass, Northeastern wedge-fest, as well as performed admirably at other Northeastern courses such as Brookline and Aronimink.

It’s been a good, not great season for the Ryder Cup captain, but he is coming off an excellent ball-striking performance at the Heritage, and he has already recorded top-10 finishes at the Sony Open and Arnold Palmer Invitational. Keegan always seems to raise his baseline in the Tri-state area, and he is every bit the wedge player and Bent-grass putter to feast at Philly Cricket.

After listening and reading Andy and Steve’s course previews, they are anticipating players being asked to hit a ton of short iron shots this week. When I heard that, it screams Justin Thomas.

Over the last 75 rounds, JT ranks 1st in strokes gained from 100-150 yards and ranks 4th in strokes gained on short courses. With some expected high scoring at Philly Cricket, putting on these fast bent-grass greens will be very important. JT’s long term putting statistics aren’t great, but he’s been in form with the flatstick, as he has gained at least 1 stroke per round in 3 of his last 4 tournaments.

Is Justin Thomas going to win back to back signature events? It’s a tough ask for sure. The course fit is hard to ignore, along with how his game is trending.

If you have already used Justin Thomas in your pool, I would look to deploy Tommy Fleetwood or Russell Henley.

Over the last couple of years with the PGA Tour restructuring their schedule, they have failed to take advantage of some of the biggest markets in the United States: Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. You can argue that those markets are the three biggest in sports, and have the most passionate fan bases. 

You would think that the PGA Tour would want to take advantage of these energetic cities and prestigious golf courses. However no, the Tour has actually backed out of investing in these markets. 

In 2019, the PGA Tour decided to eliminate the Dell Technologies Championship/Deutsche Bank Championship that was hosted at TPC Boston, which was one of the four FedEx Cup playoff events at the time. This was the result of the Tour deciding to shrink the playoffs from four to three events.

Northern Trust decided to terminate its sponsorship with the PGA Tour in 2021, ultimately ending the Northern Trust Championship, which was also a FedEx Cup playoff tournament. The Northern Trust would rotate to a couple of Northeast golf courses like Liberty National in  NJ, Ridgewood Country Club in NJ, Plainfield Country Club in NJ, Glen Oaks in NY, and Bethpage Black in NY. 

I am sure some might question this by saying that the PGA Tour does invest in the Northeast with the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, CT. Yes, the Travelers does produce some of the best crowds of the year. However, TPC River Highlands isn’t the most intriguing course to watch on TV. 

The Northeast has some of the most unique architecturally built golf courses that the USGA and the PGA of America have invested in like Merion Golf Club, Winged Foot, Shinnecock, the Country Club (I will let Andy comment on more courses in the Northeast since that is more his expertise). 

If you know me, I am from Philadelphia and a huge sports fan of their sports teams. Go birds! I am so excited to attend the Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club. The course is super pristine and I believe that the Philly fans will bring some unmatched energy this weekend. 

It’s a shame the PGA Tour has not reinvested back into some of the biggest markets in the states and host tournaments at some of the best golf courses in the world. I hope the Truist Championship will change the minds of Jay Monahan and his team to rethink the yearly schedule.

Yesterday morning while standing by the coffee machine, one of the few co-workers I talk golf with asked me: what’s the biggest storyline going into the PGA Championship? 

I obviously said Rory coming off achieving the career grand slam and his historic record at Quail Hollow.

He then ask what’s the biggest storyline going into the PGA Championship outside of Rory? I told him I would get back to him after lunch. So while waiting in line at chipotle yesterday, I wrote down some other big storylines to consider (in no particular order):

• Scottie Scheffler is finding his groove coming off a win in his hometown

• Jordan Spieth is playing well and going for the career grand slam 

• Justin Thomas returns to Quail Hollow after winning his first major here in 2016 and coming off his first win in years at the RBC Heritage

• Can Bryson bounce back after a lackluster final round at Augusta at a course that suits him well? 

• What’s up with Jon Rahm?

• What Brooks Koepka are we going to get?

After much thought, my vote on who the second biggest storyline is certainly Bryson DeChambeau. He is a great course fit at Quail Hollow with the way he hits his driver and a potential narrative on can he bounce back after a disappointing Masters finish. Both are reasons why I believe Bryson will be hoisting the Wanamaker trophy next week.

Could we get a Bryson vs Rory duel for the third time in the last year at a major? I would love to see it.

Who do you think is the biggest storyline outside of Rory?

It’s strange watching something die. In the past week, I’ve had to do it twice. One was a four-legged feline that never especially liked me. The other was a local bar, incapable of feeling or emotion. Both times, I cried anyway.

I’ve written before about the allure of the American Townie Bar, about how I’m drawn to the dated ambience and smell of stale beer. The townie bar is the solution to the epidemic of loneliness – a place where we find solace in convenient relationships. Over the years I’ve swung open the same creaky wooden door and sidled up to the laminate bar in the back room of a Chinese restaurant. It still feels ridiculous, but the place was ours, and it was special. “Double?” asked Tom, a bartender with encyclopedic recall of his patrons’ orders and even their Keno numbers. Then he’d place a glass of Bulleit rye and ice in front of me – it was closer to a triple than a double – and I’d chat with the locals about anything. Our golf games, the Red Sox, the local gossip. Anything but politics. Talking politics at the bar got you scolded by the elders.

There was nothing on tap at our townie bar. Much of the wine was boxed. The bartenders made the legendary Mai Tai in massive jugs, stored for easy mass pours. I stuck to rye, which other locals jokingly called “apple juice,” and we all stared blithely at the Keno screen, grumbling about our lack of fortune. It was comfortable. I’ll never forget listening to Ray’s stories or Anne Marie’s gripes. Kevin won constantly and yet he always complained that his numbers were cold. We all rolled our eyes when Sean walked in. Paul was my favorite; he left us too soon, but I can still hear him humming his little tune. It echoes in my memories. I smirk when I think of Will coming back in from a toke outside; the second-hand high was palpable. I liked the little things; the quiet old lady in the corner who kept to herself but just liked the company; the shift in Tom’s tone when he didn’t know a customer (or they didn’t tip); the communal shunning when a local got too rowdy; the time Vietnam was a Jeopardy response, but shouting it triggered Mac’s PTSD.

My bar closed last week, and it left me with an emptiness that feels searingly like loss. I don’t miss the drinks; I miss the people, the shared joy, the embrace of togetherness. We laughed and hugged on that final night and promised we’d see each other again. But the feeling of finality when I walked back out that creaky wooden door hit me in the chest, and I sobbed in my car on the way home because death is not an idea. It is a pin prick, it is a dagger. It is a sword, it is Excalibur. The wound may vary, but the pain is a memory of what once was and will never again be.

Shoutout to Rishi and the boys for touting EVR, who finished solo 2nd to Scottie Scheffler, and Adam Schenk who finished T5. We will keep it rolling into the Truist Championship and the PGA Championship on our Ball Knowers After Dark show every Wednesday at 8:00 eastern.