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Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as attention now turns towards the 3M Open.

1. A year free of Sunday drama at the majors

The AP’s Doug Ferguson…”Wyndham Clark was on the 18th green, 60 feet away from the hole. Rory McIlroy was in the scoring room, watching on television. Clark rolled the long putt to within a foot of the hole and pumped his fist. All that remained was tapping in for par to win the U.S. Open.”

• “That was the extent of Sunday drama in the majors this year.”

• “The champions are not about to complain, least of all Clark at Los Angeles Country Club or Brian Harman at Royal Liverpool, both of them first-time major winners who played as though they had been there before.”

• “Not every Masters can have the remarkable back-and-forth between Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose, much less a comeback by Tiger Woods. Augusta National always seems to deliver, but the slogan of the Masters not starting until the back nine on Sunday would be a tough sell the last four years.”

• “All that can salvage 2023 for edge-of-the-seat theater is the Ryder Cup.”

2. ‘I pray for your forgiveness’ – Tour pro admits to cheating at recent PGA Tour Canada tournament

Our Matt Vincenzi…”On Monday, PGA Tour Canada player Justin Doeden took to Twitter to admit that he had, in fact, cheated when he changed an already signed scorecard.”

• “I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date. I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9″

• “The potential infraction was reported by Ryan French, or better known as “Monday Q Info” on Twitter.”

• “Two players were having lunch after the second round of the PGA Tour Canada event in Ottawa on Friday when they noticed that Justin Doeden was listed at 3 under on the leaderboard. One of the players had played with Doeden and had watched him make a 7 on the par-5 home hole to finish 1 under, a shot off what would become the cut line. The players notified the rules officials of their concern, assuming it was a live scoring issue (not unusual on a developmental grind). The officials pulled Doeden’s card and noticed that the 7 he made on 18 had been erased and replaced with a 5.”

3. Scheffler’s putting costs him

Ed Carruthers for Golf Monthly…”Well, looking at the numbers, it’s glaringly obvious, and well documented, that it’s his putting that has been letting him down”

• “Throughout the bag, Scheffler is firing on all cylinders, ranking fifth in the field for his shots gained off the tee and shots gained in approach at this weekend’s Open Championship.”

• “But his putting stats are leaving a lot to be desired, with Scheffler dropping to 149th in the standings for shots gained with his flat stick.”

• “Scheffler has openly admitted before that he has struggled with his putting this season saying at the Memorial Tournament that his putting “wasn’t the best.”

4. Westwood hits out at golf journalist

Our Matt Vincenzi…”After Brian Harman’s impressive victory at The Open Championship, Golf Digest’s Joel Beall wrote a story about the event, calling it a “dud.”

• “The headline of the story read: “British Open 2023: Brian Harman was due for a big win, and golf was due for a dud finish.”

• “In response, Lee Westwood wrote a column for The Telegraph, saying that Beall’s article “disgusted” him.”

• “I read an article on Monday morning which thoroughly disgusted me. It was on a specialist golf website and the headline declared that ‘golf was due a dud’. The level of disrespect towards Brian Harman and his remarkable victory at the Open on Sunday was astounding.

• “You expect that nonsense in the dark recesses on Twitter, but not in one of the best-known magazines in America. I will not name the publication because it has some great journalists who I don’t want to implicate. But, at the very least, the headline should be changed. In short, it is a disgrace and shows a complete lack of understanding of the nature of the sport in that publication’s very own title.”

• “Westwood went on to share why he believes Harman’s win was so special, including his incredible putting performance.”

5. Harman on rollback

Mike Hall for Golf Monthly…”There has long been concern over the effect of the game’s big hitters on the game and in March, the game’s governing bodies confirmed a golf ball rollback plan aimed at reducing hitting distances.”

• “However, following his win, Harman admitted he was sceptical as to whether the proposed Modal Local Rule, which would reduce the distance golf balls travel in elite golf, will benefit shorter hitters.”

• “He said: “It depends on who you talk to. Some people say it’ll help. The guys that hit it shorter – I don’t know how it helps a guy that hits it shorter. There hasn’t been any — there really hasn’t been any change or golf course design that’s helped a shorter hitter over the last 20 years, so I don’t know how the next thing would help a shorter hitter. The game is going longer. That seems to be the way it’s going.”

6. EVR’s caddie to tee it up alongside him at 3M Open

7. Overrated?

Our Matt Vincenzi…”In what he correctly labeled as a “possible hot take”; PGA Tour player Michael Kim tweeted over the weekend that he thought Cameron Smith’s up-and-down on the Road Hole (Par-4 17th) was “a bit overrated”.”

• “Kim is referring to the putt around the bunker that the 2022 Champion Golfer of the Year Cameron Smith put to about fourteen feet before knocking in the crucial par save. The wizardry displayed by the Australian ensured that fan-favorite Rory McIlroy would not be able to chase him down on the closing holes at the Old Course.”

• “Possible hot take… I think this putt is a bit overrated because of the way it looks with the pin behind the bunker. He still has a full yard to play with on the line that he hit the putt on. It was a very clutch second putt but that bunker isn’t nearly as in play as it looks.”

8. JT adds to schedule in search for form

Reuters Report…”After another disappointing performance at the final major of the season, Justin Thomas entered next month’s Wyndham Championship, the final tournament of the PGA Tour regular season.”

• “The Wyndham will be a chance for Thomas to not only earn FedEx Cup points, but also to prove he belongs on the United States Ryder Cup team.”

• “Thomas, 30, has won two PGA Championships and one Players Championship in his career thus far, but he has struggled throughout 2022 and ’23. He missed the cut at the Masters, the U.S. Open and last week’s Open Championship, shooting a round of 81 at the U.S. Open and an 82 at The Open.”

• “After the disheartening U.S. Open, Thomas added the Rocket Mortgage Classic to his schedule. He went 76-69 and missed the cut, failing to earn any additional FedEx Cup points. Thomas is No. 75 in the FedEx Cup standings; only the top 70 will qualify for the first playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship.”

9. Reminder: Members Choice voting is live (and wraps this week)

Vote now!!!