Incredible return of a phenomenon. And a 7-foot Tiger Woods?

Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I’m calling this weekend 9. Think of it as a place to warm you up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We will have thoughts. We will have advice. We will have tweets. But only nine in all, though sometimes perhaps more and sometimes perhaps less. But who am I? The following paragraphs tell some of the story. It can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com.

We don’t know the result.

We don’t know what will happen.

Sports are the realistic realities we have.

I like this thought. She came last week from Rory McIlroyafter being asked to give his opinion on watching sports after the events in Ryder Cup.

And the quote is apt to share the story of a tie for 10th at an event in Western Australia.

A year ago, anyone watching Jeffrey Guan such conclusions are expected. Or rather. And at the highest levels. The Australian was one of the next big things. Twice, he won the Australian Junior Amateur. In 2022, he won the Young Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Last year, barring a sponsor, he played in the PGA Tour’s Procore Championship. Immediately after this event, he returned home.

And in a pro-am in September 2024, the left side of his face was hit by a ball. He underwent the procedures.

He lost the sight in his left eye.

But he held onto hope. And his swing.

And there Guan was, at the end of August, playing. He missed the cut in that first tournament back. But then at that event in Western Australia, the CKB WA PGA Championship held earlier this month, Guan finished 10th. And a few days later, in an Instagram post, he wrote this:

A year ago, I wouldn’t have believed I’d ever play golf again, let alone compete in a tournament. The return trip has been anything but easy. Mentally, it’s been one of the hardest battles I’ve ever faced. At that point, I wasn’t just injured or out of shape. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted, unsure if I would ever find my way back. Golf has always been a big part of my life, but when things fell apart, I felt like I lost a part of who I was. The pressure, the obstacles, the self-doubt…it all built up. There were days I couldn’t even look at my clubs. The days when just getting out of bed felt like a victory. I questioned everything. My ability, my worth, if I am made for good.

But this week the top 10 finish has proven itself wrong. Here I am. Back. And so really, really grateful.

To those who stood by me when I couldn’t see a way forward, thank you. Your support, patience and faith in me got me through the hardest days. I really wouldn’t be here without you.

I feel nothing but joy, gratitude and excitement to be back doing what I love.

Come back with a fresh perspective and a true love for the game.

the hell

Realistic reality show.

Let’s see if we can find eight more items for the 9th weekend.

A throwback to the week that was

2. Is Keegan Bradley the best choice to be the next US Ryder Cup captain?

Or should Americans look to someone else – for Bradley’s benefit?

I think you can answer yes to both questions after listening his comments this week at the Travelers Championship media day, his first appearance since the U.S. team he coached last month at the Ryder Cup lost to Team Europe. Among Bradley’s thoughts, as captured by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press:

– “From the Ryder Cup until now it has been one of the most difficult periods of my life.”

-“This impressive event has been so brutal to me. I don’t know if I want to play. No, I do. It’s a strange thing to want something so much that it doesn’t give you anything.”

– “I’ll forever wonder and wish I had a chance to play there. The first day of practice, I was out on the tee, and I was watching the guys walk down the fairway all together, and I said, ‘I’d like to play. That’s what it’s all about. I’m missing it.’ By the second or third day, I was like, ‘It’s a good thing I’m not playing,’ because I was so physically exhausted. … Good thing I didn’t, because it would have been bad. I just didn’t think I could do both.”

No one, you could argue, is more passionate about the event than Bradley. And you need that in a captain. But maybe the poor guy has suffered enough.

However, a win would make for an embarrassing story.

A delivery for the weekend

3. Wednesday, GOLF’s Dylan Dethier it broke wonderfully news that the Sentry, the PGA Tour’s season-opening event, would be canceled for next year, and he noted there’s a chance the event won’t return to Hawaii as the Tour looks at how it does business under a new CEO Brian Rolapp.

If you are a golf professional consumer, you should want your product audited from top to bottom.

And sports economists will probably one day write books on the effects LIV Golf has had.

A thought for your weekend

4. Post below at least it got me thinking.

A high school that interests me

5. A high school in Georgia may have its own three-hole golf course. Fox 5 Atlanta’s Rob DiRienzo reported the story, and you can read it here here.

A Michael Jordan video that interests me

6. On Tuesday, during NBC’s coverage of the NBA, Michael Jordan revealed that he had been urged to hit a free throw at home where he was staying for a recent Ryder Cup and he admitted he was nervous, having not touched a ball for a while – but he didn’t want to disappoint those watching.

But are there videos of the moment?

there is. It started rolling on Thursday and you can watch it below.

Let’s start with what happened between the ropes.

I can only assume when you wrote this that you were fed up with the success of a routine International Presidents Cup shot. Or maybe in Keegan Bradley announcing, “We’re going to Bethpage to kick their ass.” Instead, the American team was completely dismantled in their own backyard for the first four sessions, though credit to the USA for fighting back against them on Sunday.

Every time the Ryder Cup starts, one thing never fails to surprise me. It’s the unerring confidence with which Americans predict a US victory—or, in your case, a landslide victory. This is despite figures now showing that Europe has triumphed in 11 of the last 15 editions – including five of the last 10 countries.

I admit that futurology can be tricky when it comes to predicting sports results — so let’s see your prediction for the atmosphere of the event.

I wasn’t there and you were – but where to begin with this horror show. Maybe the emcee starts Saturday morning by encouraging 5,000 spectators (including children) to chant: “F**k you, Rory”? Or what about the other embarrassing comments often made in between? Or how about a squadron of state troopers being called in to police the McIlroy-Lowry four-ball match on Saturday? This was nothing less than a significant minority indulging in an unrelenting campaign of hatred and cruelty.

And you envisioned … a carnival atmosphere?

I mean, given the depravity of what happened, this has to be one of the most wrong predictions in golf history.

However, even here in the UK, people knew that Bethpage was a car accident waiting to happen. Your “carnival vibe” was apparently based on a landslide in the US – but did you think it would be crowd pleaser in Europe?

Now I don’t want to be holier than thou about this. I am aware that European crowds are not perfect. There is a depressing trend here for nasty comments being made towards players. But it barely registers compared to what went down at Bethpage. And even when it comes to the Ryder Cup, European jokes at least spring from creativity and humor, such as singing “hats in your bank account” to Patrick Cantlay in 2023.

Of course, Keegan Bradley tried desperately to invent some alternative facts about the “violence” in Rome. The only violence I saw was Rory being held back by Bones!

From a personal perspective, my lasting impression from Bethpage would have to be the celebration of a European triumph. But you know what? it wasn’t. As the television director touched the thousands of American fans who were leaving while the games were still on the field, my mind was not on golf. It was about how a number of these fans had been happy to hand out non-stop to the European players and their wives – however, when faced with their misfortune (namely a European victory), these ‘supporters’ showed their true colors by running for the exits and heading home at the earliest opportunity. They were the real losers – not Team USA.

And, ultimately, it felt like there was an even bigger loser – the soul of golf. It fell and hit the ditch.

Some carnival.

Let’s hope for better things at Adare Manor in 2027!

A golf thought in the fall

12. Let’s make a dozen articles! Isn’t Weekend 9 usually published on Fridays? It does. But this Friday, I’m going on a fall golf trip. It has to be a good one. Golf. Golf sodas. Repeat.

I hope you will do (or have already done) the same.