The Nine is a monthly ranking of all things golf, golf-related, and golf adjacent from the previous month. Rankings are calculated by an idiosyncratic and temperamental formula including objective measures, eye tests, and vibe checks. From the Drop Zone assumes no liability or responsibility for the accuracy of these rankings.
Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Nine. Each month we'll take a look at nine things from the golf world that deserve our attention, praise, mockery, or distain. There's a lot of ranking systems out there; I'm sure The Nine will be no more or less controversial than others that claim to be official.
1. Scottie Scheffler
With apologies to Talor Gooch, any ranking worth its salt would have Scottie Scheffler as the number one player in the world. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five and came back from five down after three rounds to win The Players.
His eagle on the fourth hole in the fourth round at The Players, at the time, was more of a "oh that's cool and this is getting a little exciting now." Little did we know it might have proven to be the critical shot in a round of 64 of them to win the tournament. While it appears his putting has gotten better (shout out Rory McIlroy for telling him to switch to a mallet putter and unleashing this beast), it still feels like any time Scottie doesn't have to putt, the better.
This was the easiest and most definitive ranking of the month. The Nine had no choice but to rank Scheffler in the top spot, if for no other reason than to establish rock solid credibility in the golf ranking world.
2. Nelly Korda
Nelly returned to No. 1 in the world after winning her 10th LPGA tournament in March at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship. Like seemingly any victory from Korda, it was a nailbiter and thriller as she won in a playoff. It was her second win of the 2024 season, winning the LPGA Drive On Championship in January, also in a playoff. Nelly, we're all rooting for you, but a stress-free win would be nice every now and then.
According to Justin Ray, Korda is the first American player to win twice before April 1 on the LPGA tour since Stacy Lewis in 2013 and the first player to win two of her first three starts in a season since Karrie Webb in 2011. Not bad company.
3. Peter Malnati
The bucket hat-wearing, yellow-ball playing, representative of the journeyman on the PGA Tour's Board of Directors will no longer have to wait at the mailbox for sponsor invites to the designated, elevated, Big Gulp, signature events. His win at The Valspar Championship - the second of his career - earns him entry into the rest of those for the 2024 season. The sponsor invitation he received to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was controversial, but the controversy is no more after this victory.
He plays yellow golf balls because his three-year-old son liked them. His post-win interview on the 18th hole was an incredible and vulnerable display of emotion, joy, and relief.
And in his press conference he mentioned how thankful he was of his family for supporting him, and the communities and organizations that host PGA Tour events, like the Copperheads and Innisbrook and The Valspar, for giving players a place to play.
He also said this something that sounds so obvious but is nice to hear out loud: "Life is hard." Not exactly Socrates, but damn, you know what, life is hard.
This all after he spent a day in The Bahamas with His Excellency and others discussing the future of the professional game. No pressure.
Something to note: the two trophies he won on Tour? One is a chicken and one is a paint brush. Fantastic.
4. Sawgrass Splashes
The Nine is a sucker for a golf course or tournament specialty cocktail or beer and the Sawgrass Splash is no exception.
A refreshing blend of orange vodka, orange juice, lemonade, and lime juice, the Sawgrass Splash goes down easy, almost too easy. They probably taste better in the Florida sun at TPC Sawgrass than sitting in an apartment with the heat on in New Jersey, but that has never stopped the determined from enjoying a cocktail.
5. (Lack of) Sawgrass Splashes
The cocktail version of the Sawgrass Splash goes down easy. The golf ball version of a Sawgrass Splash goes down much more difficult.
The island green at TPC Sawgrass featured a strip of rough around its perimeter to, I don't know, prevent balls from going in the water? That is ludicrous. (I had to spell check that because I only know how to spell Ludacris like the rapper).
I'm not sure why the Tour and course set up team isn't leaning into the most iconic hole in golf. Yeah, the hole is objectively silly. Yeah, the hole is hard. And okay, maybe that strip of rough does speed play by preventing too many balls from going in the water, thereby reducing plays from the drop zone (I am quivering saying those words) and retees. But pace of play isn't enforced anyway, and these are the best players in the world. If I can take two tries and a try from the drop zone during play, so can these guys.
Lean into the craziness, zaniness, and ridiculousness that is 17 at Sawgrass.
6. The Pinehurst Sandmines
Pinehurst Resort calls themselves "The Cradle of American Golf." Hell, they even named their par-three course "The Cradle." Seems a bit arrogant, or at least well-marketed.
But here's the thing: Pinehurst is a special place. Pinehurst is golf. And the people of Pinehurst know it's a special place.
Pinehurst gets many things right. The restoration of Course No. 2 to bring back the sandy features of the land. The total redesign of Course No. 4 and it becoming not just No. 2's little brother but a course which can stand on its own merits. The addition of the aforementioned Cradle, which may truly be the most fun nine holes in golf. The Thisle Dhu putting course, where anyone with a putter and a golf ball can walk up and play. The Pinehurst Brewing Company offering a great selection of beers and BBQ.
Their latest addition, the Pinehurst Sandmines, is yet another thing they got right. The addition of Course No. 10 is in an area they are branding as the Pinehurst Sandmines. According to the resort, "beginning in the 1920s, the sandy soil in this location proved useful to multiple mining operations, specifically Pleasants Sand and Supply."
The new course occupies a fraction of the land that is the new Sandmines. There is opportunity for Pinehurst to do more great things.
Honoring the past in a modern and progressive world is what Pinehurst is doing best. And they continue to do it with the Sandmines.
7. Rule 17.1d
Also known as "where did it cross the penalty area margin," man, did Rory McIlroy give Rule 17.1d a work out in the first round of The Players.
TPC Sawgrass has many red penalty areas, which are ones that usually are parallel or lateral to holes. When a ball enters one of these penalty areas, an option the player has is to take a drop from where it crossed the margin of the hazard, which is often marked with a painted line. A problem comes in when the players can't see or definitely tell where the ball crossed the line, because sometimes these things happen behind hills from 300 yards away!
The other players in the group are supposed to "protect the field" by ensuring drops are taken in proper spots, but these can bring awkward and comfortable conversation. This happened (twice!) in round one of The Players with Rory McIlroy. Tough situation for Jordan Speith and Viktor Hovland who were in Rory's group and tasked with that.
Shout out to our guy Viktor Hovland, who had to deal with "where did it cross" at TPC Sawgrass two years prior in 2022 with Daniel Berger.
8. The Spring Weather Tease in March
Every March there comes that singular warm day where the grayness of winter dissipates, the sun warms the air, and the birds start to sing their songs. For golfers that means only one thing: it's time to dust off the golf clubs and head to the course!
The anticipation of a new season is upon us, and we're out of winter! Golf season is here!
Except, it's just one day. If we're lucky, it's two days.
Then, snap back to reality (ope, there goes gravity) and the grayness and chill of the gloomy winter returns for at least a few more weeks.
Quality golf weather in March is here for a good time, not a long time. Such a tease.
9. Jay Monahan
It was a tough scene for everyone's favorite sports commissioner Jay Monahan at The Players. From (not) answering questions about the potential investment by Saudi PIF, to saying he is the right man for the job - and for his new role as CEO of the for-profit arm of the Tour - after being asked if some players asked him to resign, to just looking like a tired, exhausted, beaten man, the "State of the Tour" press conference wasn't his best moment.
In fairness, Monahan was never the best at press conferences and in the past it seems like he has gotten horrible advice (see: invoking the 9/11 families then months later announcing a "framework agreement" with the Saudis), but this was a tough one for him.
Golf doesn't have a draft (yet... right, Yassir?), but he did get boo'd like any upstanding commissioner of a professional sports organization (and your friend's fantasy football league), so I guess he fits right in with them. It's nice for golf to be the same in that way, isn't it?
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