Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we miss the March Madness of our youth. Sorry to go all old man on you, but it really was better back in the day. You knew the players because they weren’t on a different team every year. You actually knew what conferences the schools played in. And underdogs had more of a chance before NIL money gave the big schools an even bigger advantage. Heck, we’ve got one double-digit seed advancing past the first weekend this year and it’s … (*checks notes*) the University of TEXAS with a $7.5 million payroll?! Anyway, enough complaining. There was plenty more March Madness happening in pro golf. Let’s get to it.

WE’RE BUYING

Matt Fitzpatrick: And just like that, I believe in the golf gods again. A week after losing one of the game’s biggest events with a final-hole bogey, Fitzpatrick found redemption with a closing birdie to capture the Valspar Championship.

This one was well deserved for a guy who has been playing some great golf, especially with a much-improved iron game under the tutelage of Golf Digest’s No. 1 teacher, Mark Blackburn. But also because of how he handled last week. Fitz was all class in defeat despite the TPC Sawgrass not being all class against him. And his work and perseverance was rewarded with PGA Tour title No. 3.

No golfer has undergone such a transformation in recent years, from his much-talked-about work with the Stack System, to going to cross-handed chipping to his revamped iron game. Now he seems in position to close that gap between his number of PGA Tour titles and DP World Tour titles (10). As a fellow 5-foot-10 Stack System user, I love to see it. Although, I certainly don’t look this good swinging shirtless:

Hyo Joo Kim: The Korean star blew a five-shot lead on Sunday and looked like she was on her way to a painful loss. Instead, she bounced back to do just enough on the back nine to pick up her eighth career LPGA Tour title at the Fortinet Founders Cup.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a big deal to being wire-to-wire, but at the end of the day, it’s who’s on top at the final day so it didn’t really mean that big of a deal to me,” Kim said after. Fair enough, even if she probably would have rather avoided all that extra stress on Sunday. What was a big deal, though, is that she beat Nelly Korda by a shot. Talk about taking out a 1-seed.

Bryson DeChambeau: The two-time U.S. Open champ won for a second consecutive week on LIV Golf, and he did so in particularly thrilling fashion. In the first playoff hole against Jon Rahm—a matchup of the tour’s two biggest heavyweights—Bryson pulled off this Herculean shot to set up the winning birdie in South Africa:

And after, he gave some emotional answers alluding to having to deal with something personal of late. I hope everything’s OK, Bryson. But in the meantime, I’d like to point out this one response about why he signs autographs:

Not every golf fan agrees when it comes to this guy, but every fan will certainly agree with that answer. Well said, Bryson.

WE’RE SELLING

54-hole leaders in Florida: For a fourth consecutive week, the leader heading into Sunday failed to get it done. This time, it was Sungjae Im’s turn to let one get away, and between him and playing partner Brandt Snedeker, who, sadly, had an even rougher day, we had one of those awkward situations where the final pairing came to the final hole as a non-factor in the tournament.

Obviously, it’s incredibly hard to close out a golf tournament, especially on the PGA Tour. But this particular run of Shane Lowry, Daniel Berger, Ludvig Aberg and Sungjae is quite something considering their career records. Tough results for those guys, but a reminder of why the Florida Swing is great. You never know where your bracket bet is going to bust.

Slow play: Even worse than this scourge is when the people running tournaments leave it to the people playing in the tournaments to police it. Such is what happened on Sunday when Matt Fitzpatrick (rightly) went to a rules officials to complain about playing partner Adrien Dumont de Chassart’s deliberate pace:

Taking three minutes to hit an approach shot from the fairway is never right. Nor is it fair to anyone around you on the course. But to do it when you’re not even in contention while your playing partner is? Brutal. And again, it’s even worse that Fitzpatrick had to be the one to say something. And all Adrien ended up getting was a warning. New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp seems to be a guy capable of getting good changes done. Dealing with slow play better needs to be at the top of his to-do list. Anyway, good for Fitzpatrick. It makes his win even more impressive.

Rory McIlroy’s Masters menu: I know I’m in the minority here, but I agree with ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, who seems to have a similarly unsophisticated palette. This menu from Rory is a bit much:

It’s like he thinks he’s never going to win again so he had to come up with every possible combination of food. And four apps, but only one dessert? Again, to each his own and I’m sure Rory will enjoy his night as he should. But give me Bubba Watson’s oft-mocked simple menu any day of the week. Or just give me Scottie Scheffler’s chocolate-chip skillet cookie at least.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to its Texas Two-Step ahead of the Masters, starting with the Texas Children’s Houston Open, AKA that one they play in Houston. The LPGA will be in Arizona for the Ford Championship, and the DP World Tour is in India playing at everyone’s favorite Gary Player course. Oh, and the TGL finale is tonight! And Tiger Woods is actually playing!

Random tournament fact: Sam Ryder will be in the field in Houston after Monday qualifying. Why am I pointing this out? Because he shot a 60. Without a caddie:

Nicely done, Sam. This is great news for my #NoCaddies movement.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Anyone will play the Houston Open without a caddie: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Sam Ryder will win the Houston Open: 260-to-1 odds

—Matt Fitzpatrick and Adrien Dumont de Chassart won’t be spending Easter together: LOCK

(COMBO) TWEET OF THE WEEK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

This move by Alejandro Tosti is certainly one way to try to meet a mate:

Sounds like a real catch, ladies!

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (ON-COURSE DIVISION)

Fuzzy Zoeller once bet $150K that John Daly wouldn’t make it to 50 so if Fuzzy were still alive he’d be amazed JD is about to hit the big six-oh next month. But the two-time major champ had a pretty crazy moment on Sunday, belly-flopping down a steep slope in the Tucson desert and needing to be rescued during the final round of the Cologuard Classic.

As one X/Twitter follower pointed out, JD was almost, “Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door.” Anyway, he survived. And shot 68. And still has a chance to live as long as Chuck Norris (RIP Walker, Texas Ranger). Just think of how much you could have made betting on that three decades ago.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (OFF-COURSE DIVISION)

More PGA Tour Champions craziness! Cologuard Classic tournament host Jerry Kelly, who we just had on The Loop podcast last week, sadly had to WD due to back spasms. And then he gave an interview. From bed.

Incredible. As our Chris Powers said, “This might be the most Champions Tour video to ever exist.” Anyway, love ya, Jerry. Get better soon!

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (HUSBAND-WIFE DIVISION)

This is an all-time embrace between Jordan Gumberg and his wife, Luka, after Jordan won the Hainan Classic:

The two got married just a few months ago so they’re clearly still in the honeymoon stage. And if the name Jordan Gumberg sounds familiar, that’s probably because you remember him holing his final shot of last season from 58 yards to keep his DP World Tour card and allow Sunday’s win to be possible. As we talk about often, the margins in pro golf are so small at the top!

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (PARENTS-KID DIVISION)

Great news for Marco and Sophie Penge, whose baby boy Romeo finally went home from the hospital after a 21-day stay in the NICU:

All the best to the Penge family. As a parent of a baby who also had a 21-day stay in the NICU before coming home, man, did Sophie’s recent posts hit home about that excruciating time. But now our baby turned 8 (!) last week, and she”s doing things like dressing up as Nelly Korda for her school’s “Dress Like a Celebrity Day:”

Look at me doing my part to GROW THE GAME!

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (BIRTHDAY DIVISION)

Speaking of birthdays, Charley Hull celebrated the big three-oh:

And even had this designated smoking area at her party:

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Lebron James got pretty darn close to a big gator during a recent round:

Be careful, King! The NBA Playoffs start next month!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Yeah, it was tough this time last year. I missed the cut at the Players, played really badly. Had a change in my team on the caddie front. And then didn’t make the cut at Valero. And kind of scrambling my way around Augusta. Yeah, it was hard. I didn’t really know what was going to happen. It’s hard. That’s why, you know, I hate the game and I love the game. That’s why I always tell people I prefer football as opposed to golf (smiling). It is a frustrating game, but we keep coming back because for moments like on the last today.” —Matt Fitzpatrick. It’s truly amazing on the swings these guys go through during their careers. What a sick sport.

THIS AND THAT

Jon Rahm now has eight runner-ups in his LIV Golf career, including three this season. Which puts him in great position to win the league’s “Clutch Player of the Year” award again. … Scottie Scheffler withdrew from the Houston Open with he and his wife expecting the birth of a second child between the Players and the Masters. This, after their first child was born between the 2024 Masters and PGA. Talk about great timing. … A groom spent nearly $3K on customized wedges for his 11 groomsmen. And I thought I was nice getting my guys Masters ball markers and tie clips. … Speaking of the Masters, it’s been reported that the “Masters candy bar” will make it’s tournament debut in a couple weeks at Augusta National. I’m usually more of a plain milk chocolate guy, but I’ll make an exception here. … And, finally, it warms my heart to see my all-time favorite basketball player (and most memorable golf partner), John Starks, and Patrick Ewing in a commercial with current Knicks players Jalen Brunson, long-hitting Karl-Anthony Towns and Jose Alvarado:

What a time to be alive. Go NY, go NY, go!

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How far will the Knicks go in the NBA Playoffs this year?

(How) will Tiger Woods play at Augusta this year?

How many Masters candy bars will I eat at Augusta this year?