A Valentine’s prank, Tiger’s exclusive event and a Tour putting contest
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From Layna Finau’s TikTok joke to Tiger’s Sun Day Red event, get caught up.
Layna Finau, Getty Images
Hello, friends, and happy Genesis Invitational week! Before we begin, I’d like to take a moment to congratulate the Taylors on their spectacular wins on Sunday.
I flew from Phoenix to Los Angeles on Monday morning and am writing to you all from the very best media center on the PGA Tour. Our workspace is in the Riviera clubhouse this week, and the media center is decked out with a barista and the very best food that golf media centers have to offer.
Before we get into all the golf action, I should first take a moment to share some exciting news with you all: There is a full recording studio at the GOLF team’s AirBnb this week. That’s right, folks. We’ve got a drum set, guitars, a piano, a tambourine and microphones. Be on the lookout for my debut album dropping later this month — and sorry to my GOLF colleague James Colgan’s attempts to sleep in the studio.
Layna Finau’s hilarious TikTok
If you’re not following Layna Finau on social media, you’re missing out. She took advantage of a hilarious TikTok trend earlier this week and joked that she was selling Tony’s clubs because he hadn’t asked her to be his Valentine.
Finau said her husband’s clubs were available for just 99 cents. The perks? They go far, have thick grips, come with custom leather head covers and a Foresight launch monitor. Talk about a great deal!
I might have to ask Tony Finau about this on Wednesday at Riviera. I hope for his sake that he’s made things right.
Sun Day Red event
I was lucky enough to attend Tiger’s Sun Day Red launch event on Monday evening in Pacific Palisades. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn that it was cocktail attire until the middle of last week when I was already on the road for the WM Phoenix Open, so I had to go on an emergency shopping trip to prepare for the event. My dearest thanks go out to Shannon at the Anthropology in Phoenix for picking out my outfit.
My coworkers Darren, Sean and I arrived at the event at 4:30 p.m. sharp. We headed up the stairs and into a room that was decked out in all things red and black and waited for the man of the hour — you can check it all out in the link to the video below.
I have to respect Tiger for making us all dress up and then showing up in a hoodie and jeans.
I was mostly curious to learn why the brand is three words, Sun Day Red, instead of simply Sunday Red, and I was happy to get my answer on Monday evening.
Apparently, Tiger’s big into the rule of threes. It was a constant theme that came up while talking about the brand, as well as the fact that we (on the best days) play in the sun, and not just on Sundays. And thus, Sun Day Red was born!
Then we got to check out the apparel and even left the event with some Sun Day Red swag. Thanks for the glove, tees, golf towel, sweatshirt, sweat shorts and t-shirt, Mr. Woods!
It’s definitely going to be an adjustment to get used to seeing Tiger without the Nike Swoosh.
Following Tiger’s practice round
One of the many unique features of this week on Tour is that there are no fans on site until Thursday. So Tiger’s practice round was pretty empty, unless you count dozens of media members following him. But there were no loud fans and I had the perfect morning catching the second half of his Tuesday nine holes.
I don’t think enough is made about how beautiful Riviera is. The course is pretty open, so you get a great view from basically wherever you are. There are massive homes on either side of the valley that the course is in, and the chilly mornings turn into perfectly warm afternoons pretty quickly. I dropped my stuff in the media center, grabbed a latte from the barista on site and headed out to follow Tiger.
He had his usual squad with him today — Rob McNamara, his assistant and some security. There’s also his new caddie, Lance Bennett, who I did my best to research this morning. He’s been looping since 2003 and has three kids. He’s been on the bag for Matt Kuchar, Davis Riley, Juli Inkster, Paula Creamer and Lorena Ochoa.
Bennett also has Kingmade Jerky linked in his Instagram account which either means they sponsor him or he just really likes their stuff.
Tiger’s limping seemed to be at a minimum, and the trek from the 18th tee to the 18th fairway is no joke. It’s a hill that has to be climbed in single file order, and Tiger appeared to conquer it with ease. Before heading out for the day, he greeted Justin Thomas, who had more in his pockets than I do when I’m avoiding bringing a bag to an event.
Spieth and JT
I ended my day by following Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas’ practice round. They played a handful of holes on the front and then the 17th and 18th, and we were wrapping things up when Bones invited me to get in on their putting contest. I didn’t even know whose putter I’d be using when I agreed to participate, but soon learned that I was using Spieth’s.
Unfortunately, I hit the putt way too hard and it trickled off the other side of the green. Sorry if I brought your putter bad luck this week, Spieth.
I surprisingly wasn’t too nervous for this, because I realized something important: You’re never going to impress the world’s best players by being good. You might, however, impress them by being bad.
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