Chapter 21

HIGH SPEED CAMERA – LEFT HANDED CANNON

Back at our hotel, we changed into swimwear and went to the spa. Most people recognized us, either shaking hands or saying ‘Hi.’ We had nothing with us to sign autographs. We found and got in the spa, and it felt so good, with a jet right at my right shoulder blade.

After our mellowing out, we left for our room, to change for dinner. Before we left, we called and checked with the happy couple back in Loveland.

“Hey kids,” mom said. “That was quite a round of golf you had today. First time anybody really stayed with you on a round like that. Are you worried about Tiger?”

“Well, not to sound too cocky, I have had some pretty good first rounds, just to follow them up with even better rounds.”

“Hey Johnny, this is John ... how much better could you have been?”

“Well, Doc ... something a guy on my UNLV team said to me a long time ago. He wondered why I hadn’t broken 50 yet. I was under par on 14 of the 18 holes today. Who knows if I could actually shoot a 49 on a Pro length course or not?”

“Well, your mother is telling me that you have the drive and ambition necessary to do anything you can. I have no reason to believe otherwise ... Take no Prisoners, Cannon!”

“Thanks, we’re heading for dinner than having an early night of it. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight Son!” he said.

I suddenly felt a wonderful feeling wash over me. A new husband for Mom ... a new person to be proud of me ... I can’t wait to see them to give him a great big hug.

Again, on Friday, they kept all the threesomes the same. The only difference was the honors ... this time I started with them, followed by Tiger, and lastly Steve. This tournament had not been on my original schedule, but I have enjoyed it so far and I am now focused on winning it.

I had a 5-shot lead on Tiger, and a 7-shot lead on KJ Choi, Carl Pettersson, and Rory McIlroy. Steve Stricker while five other guys are nine shots behind.

The second round I started eagle-birdie-eagle and never looked back. I ended up adding 12 more under to my 17 the first round, and now had a 10-shot lead on the field.

The cut was made down to the low 54 and ties. The third round on Saturday was KJ, Rory and me as the final group. I had never played with Mr. Choi before. He’s South Korean who has won 18 worldwide tournaments, including eight on the PGA Tour, including this tournament in 2007. He speaks only broken English, although we did shake hands and said, ‘Good luck’ to each other. He is a devout Christian and donates a lot of money to charity.

For no reason, I let up on this round. I birdied the first three holes, along with the Par-Fives, going five under on the front nine. My lead was 13 shots over Rory. The back nine went as well, going five more under. I was 39 under after three rounds.

CBS covered the weekend, with a conversation with Jim Nance on Saturday after my round.

“Johnny, you are tearing up this course. Any specific reason you are playing so focused and ‘Taking no prisoners?’”

“Jim, I wasn’t planning to play this originally. I am just genuinely on top of my game if that isn’t too arrogant of me?”

Jim responded, “I don’t think so. There hasn’t been a tournament like this since Tiger tore up Augusta in ‘97. This certainly is your tournament to lose, but I don’t expect that to happen. What’s coming up after the Memorial? Anything before the US Open?”

I answered, “No! I am taking the week off to see my Mom in Colorado. She’s getting married the week after this year’s PGA Championship. We’re all really excited about that.”

Jim turned to his camera and said, “We’ll be right back!”

We waved to the people and left for the day. I was physically tired, but I didn’t want to let anyone know that.

“You look tired,” my wife said now back in the room. “Take a bath and relax for a while. When you get out, we will go to dinner, all right?”

“Sounds good,” I replied.

We came home after going to a new place called Jason’s Deli. A fabulous place ... I had my first ever Meatball Sandwich on what they called New Orleans French bread. Cory had a Turkey Wrap. We brought our leftovers back to our hotel room. We watched some Golf Channel footage of the LPGA Tournament going on in New Jersey. It was called the Shoprite LPGA Classic. I was enjoying that until Cory told me to go to bed. We kissed and fell asleep.

I have had better final rounds, but in this case, it didn’t matter. I had a 6 under round, for a total of 43 under for the tournament. That 245 total beat Tommy Armour’s record set in 2003 of 254. That was satisfying, but I could have possible had a score in the 230s!

Cory and I had the interview with Jim Nance and Jack Nicklaus.

Jim started, “It looked like you were playing on fumes today, Johnny. What happened?”

“I am not really sure, but I expect my caddy will tell me about all of my mistakes today. To have a bogey on the same hole I had an ace on, is rather stupid,” I said.

“Johnny,” Jack asked. “How does ‘The Olympic Club’ in San Francisco, setup for you in two weeks?”

“Well, I remember reading that you once said, ‘Acre for acre, it may be the best test of golf in the world.’ Until I look at a flyover of the course, I have no reason not to respect it as much as you do, Sir?”

“Listen to that, he’s quoting me to me? Great Tournament this week Johnny ... rest up ... I doubt you will do as well at The Olympic Club,” Jack said slapping my back a bit.

“Johnny and Cory,” Jim said. “As the 36^th winner of the Memorial Tournament, you will receive a plaque on the Trophy that stays here. You also receive a check for $1.71 million dollars. Congratulations to you both. We will be right back!”

We all shook hands; Cory gave Jack a nice hug. And we walked away flying high, but tired.

We got on a plane, first thing the next morning ... eager to see Mom and John. They met us at the airport. Everyone hugged every else. They followed us to our place.

We got there and unloaded our stuff.

“Ohh, in our own bed for a whole week,” I said. “I can’t wait.”

“Kids,” Julia said, “Sit down for a minute please?”

We did, with Cory and I cuddling.

“What is it, Julia?” Cory asked.

“We don’t want to wait until August to get married. We want to be married sooner than that,” she said looking at our faces to possibly recognize our reactions.

I took a twenty from my wallet and gave it to my wife.

“I thought that we might come home, to find you already married. As you can see, I lost the bet,” I explained. “We have a month between the Travelers and the British Open. The last week of June.”

Cory got our calendar out, “The 29^th or 30^th ... Saturday or Sunday?” she asked the happy couple.

John said, “I will let my fiancée pick for us, kids.”

Mom was so excited, and said, “June 29^th sounds marvelous ... thanks Johnny and Cory. We were thinking of going to Scotland for three weeks for our honeymoon.”

“Whereabouts in Scotland, Julia?” I asked with my ears perking up.

“Glasgow, or maybe Musselburgh,” John answered.

“Might travel to Lancashire and watch some golf while we’re there,” John said now grinning really big.

I got up and gave her a big hug and got a nice handshake from the Doctor.

“We invited some players to it, when we thought it would be in the middle of August,” I said.

“Johnny,” Cory said. “I just put out an open invitation for June 29^th on our website. Here is what I wrote:”

“To all Golfers on the PGA Tour, we’re having a celebration on June 29^th, 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The wedding of Julia Masters and Dr. John Forney will be family only. A celebration will follow. In lieu of presents, give to your favorite charity.

RSVP by June 25^th ... More Details to follow!”

“Marvelous,” mom said to Cory.

“Great, I am going to bed...”

When I woke up, the arm of a naked girl was on my tummy. Her face moved from on my chest to looking at me in the eyes.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hellooooo, do you want to sleep longer, or...”

“I want what you want, Lover,” she said.

I saw her nipples and I asked, “Could I please suck on your tittie’s for a while?”

She rose up and moved forward with her breasts hanging down. She dropped one to fill my mouth. I used my hand on the other one. She tasted nice. I felt her hand trail down, and she took hold of me ... causing me to jump a bit. This is what love and marriage is all about.

Ten minutes later, I was all sucked out. She finished me off with her mouth after I dozed off again. Cumming in your sleep is quite amazing.

Four hours later, I woke up hungry. I pulled on my boxers and walked to our kitchen. Sitting there dressed with take-out from Red Robin, was my wife.

My Johnny Burger dinged, and I got it out of the microwave almost burning my hand. Cory giggled as I moved my food to a plate from the Styrofoam. I grabbed some bottled water from the fridge and sat down across from her eating too quickly.

“Are we playing golf while back here in Loveland?” she asked putting a French fry in her mouth.

“No. We will get there on Sunday, practice on Monday ... then see how it goes from there,” I said.

“OK,” she said. “Guess how many RSVPs we have already?”

“I don’t know ... fifty or sixty?” I guessed.

“One hundred and four!” she said. “Some announcers emailed wondering if they were invited, so I said ‘Yes’!

“You also got an email from Davis Love III. You need to answer him today,” she said.

“Oh, he’s the Ryder Cup Captain, and Jose Maria Olazabal is Europe’s, correct? Did Davis leave a contact number?” I asked.

“Yeah, here it is,” she showed me.

I dialed and, “Davis Love.”

“Hey Davis, this is Johnny Masters. What can I do for you?”

“Would you like to be on the Ryder’s Cup Team?” he asked point blank.

“Sure, who else is on it so far?”

“From the current standings, it looks like:

Tiger Woods

Bubba Watson

Jason Dufner

Webb Simpson

Matt Kuchar

Phil Mickelson

Hunter Mahan

Zach Johnson

Keagan Bradley

You would be the 10th, plus I have two Captains’ picks after that. What do you say?”

“Yeah, I am not playing in the FedEx Cup Tournament, so I will be well rested for that!”

“That sounds wonderful. I hope you can get me as least four pts, maybe even five!”

“I would like a chance to play against Adam Scott at least once, please?” I asked.

“That’s not a problem, see you at Medinah Country Club,” he said signing off.

“See you Davis!” I answered.

I talked my wife into a skinny dip in our spa, keeping our phone nearby. It felt strange, having the place to ourselves again. I remember the day that Dad helped us get the place. He was and still is my idol. He taught me much more than just playing golf left-handed. He taught me about life. When Cory and I told him about our love for one another, he could have gone ballistic. He stayed calm because he recognized our love for each other.

I went from thinking about Dad to thinking about Mom. Those few times we made love are so very memorable. She hasn’t mentioned if she has told or is planning to tell John about that. I expect she will ... eventually. I felt Cory climb astride me, dropping herself on my dick.

She got hold of the back of the spa and we made wet love. Her breasts were jiggling in front of me, so I took her nipples in each hand and started to play with them. She liked that ... always does.

She slowly started to really drop and take all she could, as I came inside her like a six-shooter ... maybe more like a machine-gun ... but remarkably sexual at the same time. She knew I was done but kept going until she had at one more orgasm. I pulled her close and kissed her ... a big moist lip-smacker as I heard her make a guttural sound. “Ooooh Johnny!”

Still connected she asked, “It’s been four days since you played golf. Let’s go to the Butte and, at least hit several buckets of balls. The elevation here is higher, but your contact could use some work.” I pushed up inside her and asked, “Still think my contact needs work, beautiful?”

“No. Not even a little,” she said pulling off me and out of the spa in one swell foop. I got out behind her and watched her butt run into the bathroom. Aaah ... got to put some chemicals in the spa, to dissipate my swimmers.

We were in the car, driving to the Butte within 20 minutes. This would be a good idea, to stretch the muscles again, and work on accuracy and contact.

We walked around with Cory carrying the bag. I went inside to get some change for the ball machine. When I got out to where Cory was, I saw an old friend, David Feherty. We gave each fist bumps, and he watched me start my routine.

“Johnny,” he asked. “Have you ever seen your swing up close by one of those high-speed cameras?”

“No, I know what you are talking about. I have seen high speed cameras on MythBusters.”

“Well, instead of watching bullets going through watermelons, you find if you have any hiccups in your swing or not.”

“I like the bullets going through a pane of glass or gel instead of the watermelons. I especially didn’t like them when they’re using pig carcasses, ewww,” Cory said.

I noticed Cory getting on the phone while David and I were talking. “Yeah Mark ... your entire high-speed apparatus ... you can have it here tomorrow? Great ... see you at 9am at the Butte.”

I just shook my head and gave her a big kiss, “Mark Corrigan from Titleist?”

“Yeah, Cannon ... I could tell right away you wanted to do it. I called Mark to find who does it. He told me that he could be anywhere in the world in 12 hours ... he’s coming tomorrow at 9am,” she said quite proud of herself.

David observed all of this and said, “You are right about one thing, Johnny ... that is not only the prettiest caddy on tour ... she’s the smartest one too.”

Cory went over and gave David a kiss on the cheek.

I took a walk back to the Pro Shop.

“Yeah Johnny, what can I do for you?”

“I have had the ‘Biggest Big Bertha’ for a while ... what has Callaway put out recently?”

“The newest they got is the Callaway RAZR Fit Xtreme Driver! Want to try one out?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” I answered.

“Give me a minute, please?” the young man asked. I wasn’t sure of his name, but he knew me.

Coming out and holding it like ‘The Sword of Gryffindor’, he said, “Cannon, you should get 19% more accurate drives and at least 10% more off the tee ... Callaway guarantees it. I was told if you wanted anything ... to give it to you for a dollar. It would be an honor, sir!”

The young man was near tears. I reached into my pocket, found a hundred-dollar bill I didn’t know I had. I handed it to him and said, “Keep the change.”

I walked out with it and David put both of his hands on his head saying, “Don’t tell me you got a brand-new driver four days before the US Open?”

“Yup!”

“Let’s take a look at that head,” Cory said.

We all looked it over, seeing the adjustments you can make. “I don’t want to make any changes until I hit a couple of balls with it. Where was I in my warm up, Cory?”

“The five-iron, Johnny ... hand me the RAZR for a moment. Go ahead and keep practicing. I want to understand this club from stem to stern.”

I did my five-iron practice and kept going, as I saw David and Cory looking it over. I was finishing up with my irons, when Cory handed me the RAZR.

She teed up a range ball. While I was doing some warm-up swings with it. Man ... every new club swing is so much better than the previous one.

I addressed the ball and swung easy, and the ball seemed to bounce more off the clubface. I saw it go to the 275-marker, with a simple half swing. She teed me up another ball and this time I said, “Here it goes,” and swung reasonably hard. It went lower but had more roll.

“That bugger hit the ground at 400-yards and just kept rolling?” David said rubbing his hands together.

“Is this legal to play with?” I asked.

“Some players have been using adjustable clubs since 2010, Cannon ... you just joined the club, haven’t you?” David roiled adding a laugh for his pun.

“I guess so. Let’s donate Bertha to the Pro Shop,” I suggested. “Now, what are all the adjustable mechanisms anyway?”

David and Cory went over everything with me. We fine-tuned it a bit more, and I hit some more balls. We could completely eliminate my tendency to pull the ball, which has been wearing on my left arm. I adjusted my left hand and arm a little, after Cory adjusted the face again.

I hit some balls and declared, “I may never get arm-tired again playing golf. Finally, a club that adjusts ... instead of the player!”

With very little arm adjustment, my hands end up higher with less pain.

I shook David’s hand, and gave my wife a great big kiss.

“I feel like one of the Magi, after seeing the Lord Jesus for the first time,” he said.

“He’s not that good, David ... but pretty darn close!”

We were all back again the next day, getting there early enough to watch Mark finish his setup. He brought the club speed device as well.

We did the speed tests first:

“You know the drill Johnny, two-iron, nice and easy, please?”

I practice swung a little then put my two-iron in position ... and swung ... nice and easy.

“122 Club head speed... 162 Ball speed... 1.225 Smash Factor,” Mark announced.

“And now, go ahead and take a full swing, please?”

I asked Cory for a quick rub on my right shoulder, thanked her and got in position. I swung rather hard, but I did not overswing!

“137 Club head speed... 177 Ball speed... 1.865 Smash Factor,” Mark said.

“I see you have a newer driver, Johnny ... when did you start with it?” Mark asked.

Looking at my watch I said, “About 20 hours, so far!”

Mark chuckled to himself and reset.

“Just to remind you, last time you had 161 Club head, 251 Ball speed and 1.888 Smash.”

“Cut it loose Cannon, I have got you ready,” Mark announced.

I whipped the RAZR back and forth a few times, then set up ... and swung really hard!

“IT CAN’T BE! Do it again, I think the machine failed ... give me a minute?” Mark said.

After resetting and tweaking, I got ready and swing again, just as hard as the first time.

Mark got up and said to the crowd that had gathered, “Johnny Masters... 234 Club head speed... 214 Ball speed... 2.01 Smash factor.”

Applause from the couple of dozen people that were there was nice.

Cory asked Mark, “Can I put those numbers on his website ... is it OK with Titleist?”

“Sure, Cory ... it’s fine. You should mention the machine was calibrated for Loveland’s elevation, which adds less then 1% to the numbers!”

“Now for the high speed ... what we want to do ... is look at your swing half speed and full out, using a long iron, a medium iron and a wedge. Then we will compare it to your new Driver ... to see what changes occur as you perform each club ... all right. We don’t need you hitting a ball for this, if you don’t want to,” Mark explained.

“What’s the fun in that?” Cory responded teeing one up for me...

After doing all the work of hitting everything, Mark got out his tablet and showed me the different swings. He noticed that when I was preparing to hit a full shot, my hands got slightly ahead of my wrists. They stayed fluid on my easier shots. All my iron swings looked identical, with the only difference was when I hit the ball too clean.

Mark made the point that there is no reason not to take a bit of grass at the bottom of your swing. I pointed out that I have won three straight Majors with my current swing. It was fun to make him think I was upset ... which I wasn’t. He downloaded all our swings and speed-readings to our email account. Cory was energized!

As I was putting the clubs away, I saw Cory talking to Mark. She came over and asked, “Are we done for today?”

“Yeah, let’s go to Red Robin then go home. I do want to come back in two days, to get used to the RAZR a little more.”

Less than a week later, on Sunday, June 10^th, we arrived at San Francisco for the U.S. Open. We were staying at one of the nicer hotels in the area called the Mission Inn – San Francisco.

We arrived too late to do anything more than immediately go to the fitness center, work out a bit then vegetate in the wonderful Jacuzzi spa.

A family came by and the daughter, about 12 or so, asked Cory for her autograph. She always lights up when somebody asks her to sign something. Her mom, however, was a babe and asked me for an autograph. I did the best I could and signed a hotel directory she had in her hands.

While dad was watching Cory, the mom told me what room she was in and told me quietly, ‘Call first!’ I smiled at her and said, ‘Thank you, but I am very happily married,” to her chagrin. They all walked past as I saw a look on Cory’s face.

“What?” I said.

“I heard her.”

“So?”

“Thank you!”

“For what exactly?” I questioned.

“For saying that you were happily married. That was sweet of you,” Cory said with her usual smile.

Although we were in a public hot tub, I pulled her onto my lap, facing away from me. Quietly, I spoke. “I appreciate that Cory, although I have previously made love to Jessica Alba, Kelly from the Golf Channel, and my own mother, I do love you, and hereby promise to stay loyal to you in every way. I have been a bit of a horn dog. I am terribly sorry for what I have put you through!”

“In every case that you just mentioned, I gave my approval. You have been a bundle of nerves, from time to time, Johnny. I don’t really understand why but letting you ‘blow off some steam’ seems to get you back to normal.”

“I love you!” I said, giving her a kiss.

“Hey, no PDA in front of kids,” a voice coming up behind us said.

“Hey Bubba, Hey Angie,” Cory said turning my head around to see them walking, pushing a baby carriage with baby Caleb, who they had adopted as an infant. I had hopes of seeing Angie in a swimsuit, maybe some other time.

“Hey guys,” Angie said. “How many kids are you going to have?

We hadn’t ever really sat down and talked about this. “Probably eight or nine?” I surmised.

“Only if he plans to carry some of them,” Cory announced staying on my lap.

That made everyone laugh.

Bubba put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I know that this tournament would put you even closer to a ‘Tiger Slam,’ but there are at least a dozen former winners of the U.S. Open, in your way. I wish you good luck­ ... but be warned. I haven’t won this tournament yet. See you guys out there.”

Back in the room we looked over the Lake Course layout, both as an overhead map and looking at the scorecard. It’s held the U.S. Open five times, is 7,170 yards long from the pro tees and is a par 70 this week. There were 11 holes, I could realistically drive the green, using Bertha, but it’s gone and RAZR is here.

We got a good night sleep and planned to play a practice round early in the morning.

The Olympic Club Lake Course was originally built in 1860 and has been the home to many tournaments. There are two other courses on site, the Ocean (18 holes -Par 71-6,920 yards) and the Cliffs (9 holes-Par 27-1,800 yards).

On the next Monday morning, Cory and I went over to the practice range and set up to hit some balls.

I started my usual swing, first left-handed, then right-handed, and I started hitting balls. The pictures of my swing were in my head, right or wrong, so I found myself stopping at contact, asking Cory if my hands were still ahead of my wrists. She said they weren’t and not to stress so much.

I reminded her that Jack Nicklaus himself said that it was a tough course. As we were finishing up our practice, Stewart Cink came over and said, “Want to join me, Matt Kuchar, and Bubba?”

“Sure,” Cory said before I did. I gave her a kiss and found the other guys lining up behind a foursome just teeing off. That group included Lee Westwood, Brandt Snedeker, Ryan Moore and John Huh.

“Are you using a new driver, Cannon?” Bubba asked.

“Yeah, swapped out Bertha for RAZR. I needed to keep up with technology, don’t I?” I said. “I have been getting more YAFB, or Yardage After the First Bounce.”

“You are hitting it farther than before?” Matt said.

Cory said, “His ball flight is lower, so his incredible ball speed turns into more roll.”

The team before us starting walking to their drives as the four of us did some last-minute limbering.

“Johnny,” Stewart asked, “I heard you got some pictures of your swing ... has it helped or not?”

“Stew,” my wife said, “I stopped him from looking at them, so he could focus on getting the next leg to ‘The Johnny Slam’ this week.”

Hole 1 – Par 5 – 533 Yards

After a few more moments of chitchat, Stewart teed off. It was a screamer that stayed low and made the turn.

Matt got up and teed one up and put it right by Stew’s ball. Bubba strode up and used an iron, putting it behind the other boys.

I turned to Cory and suggested I play this conservatively, so I got out my two-iron.

“Hey, you got that new-fangled driver,” Bubba said. “Try it out, if you make it on the green, me and Angie will take you two out to dinner, when the Tournament’s over.”

I exchanged the two-iron for the RAZR, getting a kiss from Cory in the process. As I practice swung, I checked to make sure the previous guys were off the green, and they were. I looked over the trees and sand, instead of the fairway. I setup, addressed the ball, and swung it, a little bit easy.

From the Proshop, over the intercom, “Johnny Masters has just reached the green on his drive on hole number one.”

It helped that the ball rolled the last 70 yards.

Each of the guys gave me a touch on the back as we all walked to the next shot to be played. I handed the RAZR to my wife, who bagged it and grabbed my hand.

After watching the other guys approaching the green, Cory gave me the putter and pulled the flag. Everybody made par, and I had at least a 60-foot putt. Cory stood behind me and gave me the read.

I hit the putt, but it slowed down and came up a foot short, well... Never Up, Never In, as the old saying goes.

Three and a half hours later, I had a respectable 64, leading our group. Bubba shot 67, Matt had a par round of 70. Stewart shot a 72.

I saw Jack Nicklaus himself, sitting and watching players go to and fro. He put out his hand and said, “Nice round Johnny. You might have to do better than a 64 to win this tournament. Arnold won the Tournament in 1960 at four under. I won it in 1980 with an eight under par. Tiger had a win when it was in Pebble Beach at 12 under. Rory won it in 2011 with a 16 under par ... what are your plans?”

“To win it by one shot, that’s all I need sir!”

“Don’t tell anyone I said this, But I hope you do too!”

We took a final handshake as I caught up with Cory.

“What a great man!” I said to her, and we left.

We didn’t practice anymore. We had a good round, with one incredible shot. On the first day of the Tournament, we played with Rory McIlroy and Webb Simpson, going off in the middle of the pack. TV usually follows the complete round of the previous winners, from start to finish.

With Cory’s notes, after our singular practice round, I had a six under 64, tied with Bubba, Tiger, and Lucas Glover.

The Friday round had Tiger, Bubba and me going out together. I had an identical 64 again, now leading the pack by two shots. Rory, Bubba, and Tiger were right behind me.

Judy Rankin wanted an interview, Cory and I agreed.

“Johnny, when you practiced on Monday, you shot a 66 ... how did you turn that into a pair of 64s?”

“Judy, our practice on Monday was a kind of reconnaissance mission for the Tournament. We did our usual pre-tournament strategy session at home. After that, it was just a plan to get some birdies. Every birdie we got, we had preselected in advance. Unless there is a rainstorm or a breeze tomorrow, I expect two more 64s!”

“You expect to end up at 24 under par?” Judy asked with a change in her tone.

“No, not expect, more anticipation. The bigger lead we get, the more of a scramble behind us for second or third. The concept worked for Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.”

“If the lead you have holds up, the British Open is next. You win that, you get a career Grand Slam before you become 21,” she said.

“Either that will happen, or it won’t, Judy. After this tournament is my mother’s wedding and reception in Edinburgh, Scotland. She’s staying to watch me get my Johnny Slam. Thank you!”

I walked away from her, Cory in hand.

On Saturday, I was paired with Rory and Bubba, going off last. My momentum continued, shooting a 65, while Rory had sand issues ending with a 69 and Bubba seemed out of sorts, bumbling his way to a par 70. After Saturday afternoon, I was five strokes ahead of the field.