Our amazing freshman and our amazing Vanderbilt Men’s Golf team did it again.

Gordon Sargent won the individual national championship with a birdie on the first playoff hole, No.18, from 4 feet to outlast 3 other players and become the first freshman since 2007 to win the individual national championship. Jamie Lovemark of USC, and a winner on the Web.com Tour, won the individual national championship in 2007. Phil “Saudi League traitor” Mickelson won it in 1989, Curtis Strange won it in 1974 and Ben Crenshaw won it in 1971. Crenshaw won 2 Masters in 1984 and ’95, Strange won back to back U.S. Opens in 1988 and 1989, and Mickelson won the 2004, 2007 and 2010 Masters, the 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusrol in New York, the 2013 Open Championship at Murifield Golf Club in Scotland, and the 2021 PGA Championship at 50 years old at Kiawah Island, S.C. So our stud freshman is in some heady company. He’s got quite a future.

Also, as importantly, and, if you talk to Gordon, even moreso, we won the team stroke play competition at +14. We shot +9 today, but outlasted Oklahoma and North Carolina, which also finished +14, but we won with better scorecards for the 4 rounds. We are the No.1 seed and play No.8 Texas Tech tomorrow with coverage on the Golf Channel beginning at 11 AM CT. Will absolutely keep you apprised. William Moll sank a critical 14 foot putt for par on 18 to keep us in it, and Gordon parred 18 and Oklahoma bogeyed 18. Just seems big to be the No.1 seed. There’s a lot to like about this team. Coach Limbaugh has a winning machine this season. There are no guarantees though and we have our work cut out for us tomorrow. No.2 Oklahoma plays No.7 Arizona State, No.3 North Carolina plays No.6 Pepperdine, and No.4 Texas plays No.5 Oklahoma State.

Will keep you up to date on our stellar group. Very proud of Gordon, our Birmingham native, who played at Mountain Brook High School. Also, proud of William Moll, Cole Sherwood, Reid Davenport, Harrison Ott and Jackson Van Paris. What a job Coach Limbaugh and assistant coach Gator Todd are doing. A lot of work left for us though. Can’t wait to see us compete on Tuesday.

Vanderbilt Baseball squares off with San Diego on Friday at 3 PM CT on ESPNU at the Corvallis Regional, the Oregon State Regional. Oregon State is the No.4 overall national seed and the 1 seed in this regional. We are No.2, San Diego is No.3, and New Mexico State is No.4. San Diego is 36-18 and won the West Coast Conference Tournament Championship and defeated Gonzaga to do it. Gonzaga is a No.2 seed in the Blacksburg Regional, the No.2 overall seed Virginia Tech regional, and swept a 3 game series at No.9 overall seed Oklahoma State at Stillwater in March. We lost 2 of 3 to OK. State the first series of the season. So, we have our work cut out for us with the Toreros They took 3 of 4 from Oregon earlier this season and took 2 of 3 from a solid and NCAA Tournament Dallas Baptist team. Like having Carter Holton on the hill in Game 1, but they hit .290 as a team, so Carter will have to bear down. We’ll have to play a lot better in all 3 phases of the game if we want emerge victorious Friday. The SEC Tournament was not good for us, but it’s a new season and we have the talent to make a run. We’re 36-21, Oregon State is 44-15 and New Mexico State is 24-32.

So, let’s get to work this week and on Friday.

Vanderbilt Baseball vs Tennessee Vols today at 6-6:15 PM ish, 30 minutes after A&M/Florida. A&M up 4-0, bottom 6. I’m guesstimating it’ll be freshman Devin Futrell for us. Devin is 8-2 with a 3.27 ERA with 10 walks and 59 K’s. Had a good year, but had a couple of rough outings against Arkansas and LSU, so hoping Devin can be stellar today. Carter Holton was awesome in our 3-1 victory Tuesday night versus Ole Miss. Carter went 6, gave up 3 hits, 0 runs, with a pair of walks and 6 K’s. He was spectacular. Nelson Berkwich and my man Christian Little finished it off. Christian was particularly effective going 2 innings of no run ball with 0 walks and 4 K’s. I know Christian can really help us this postseason. Maybe there’s more to come from Christian.

Tennessee, and this is a guesstimate again, will start sophomore right hander Chase Dollander, who is 8-0 with a 2.30 ERA with 9 walks and 90 K’s, so he throws strikes. We need to be aggressive up at the plate with him.

Will have much fuller report tomorrow along with our Men’s Golf team in action in the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. We tee off at 1:30 PM CT with William Moll going off at 1:30 PM CT on No.10 followed by Harrison Ott @ 1:41 PM CT, Reid Davenport @ 1:52 PM CT, Cole Sherwood at 2:03 PM CT and Gordon Sargent at 2:14 PM CT. We are playing with No.1 Oklahoma and No.2 Oklahoma State. We are ranked third in the country by Golfstat.com.

Some awesome news from our amazing golf team. Gordon and Cole were both announced as Fred Haskins Award watch list players. The award is the most prestigious in college golf. The winner will be announced Tuesday, May 31st.

Will have much more on our baseball and men’s golf teams tomorrow. Will preview the Men’s golf team’s journey in Scottsdale.

Both exceptional teams. Let’s get the W tonight in Hoover and take it from there. We’re the most revered program in college baseball, and that’s been the case for quite a while. We just need to play like it tonight. Have a super evening, God Bless and Anchor Down.

The Hoover Met is once again the host for the 2022 SEC Baseball Tournament in which 12 teams will compete for the SEC Championship as college baseball cranks up the postseason with teams vying for spots and seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The only teams that failed to make the tournament are Missouri and defending national champion Mississippi State.

This is the 26th year that the Hoover Met has hosted the tournament. It hosted it in 1990, 1996 and from 1998 onto today. Tennessee is the No.1 seed after putting together a terrific season in which they finished 49-7 overall and 25-5 in the conference, almost an SEC regular season record that Vanderbilt set in 2013 at 26-3. Tennessee is not only the No.1 team in the SEC, but also the No.1 team in the country. Texas A&M, the No.2 seed, is ranked 5th in the country, Arkansas, the No.3 seed, is 13th nationally, LSU, the 4th seed, is No.21, and Auburn, the fifth seed, is No.24.

Arkansas is the defending champion.

Alll games will be televised by the SEC Network except for Sunday’s championship game, which will commence at 2 PM CT and be televised by ESPN2.

Here are the matchups, times and which teams I like to advance and the team I like to ultimately win the SEC Tournament Championship.

Today, All times Central, Single Elimination

No.6 Georgia (35-20, 15-15) vs. No. 11 Alabama (29-25, 12-17) 9:30 AM

Alabama 6, Georgia 4

No.7 Florida (35-20,15-15) vs. No.10 South Carolina (27-27, 13-17) 1 PM

Florida 5, South Carolina 3

No. 8 Vanderbilt (35-19, 14-16) vs. No.9 Ole Miss (32-21, 14-16) 4:30 PM

Vanderbilt 6, Ole Miss 4

No.5 Auburn (37-18, 16-13) vs. No.12 Kentucky (30-24, 12-18)

Auburn 4, Kentucky 3

Wednesday, Double Elimination

Alabama vs. No.3 Arkansas (38-16, 18-12) 9:30 AM

Alabama 7, Arkansas 6, 10 innings

Florida vs. No.2 Texas A&M (35-17, 19-11) 1 PM

A&M 4, Florida 2

Vanderbilt vs. No.1 Tennessee (49-7, 25-5) 4:30 PM

Tennessee 8, VU 5

Auburn vs No.4 LSU (37-18, 17-13) 8 PM

LSU, 6, Auburn 5, 11 innings

Thursday, Double Elimination

9:30 AM, Arkansas 5, Florida 4

1 PM, Auburn 8, Vanderbilt 7

4:30 PM A&M 6, Alabama 5

8 PM Tennessee 7, LSU 6

Friday,Double Elimination

3 PM Arkansas 5, Alabama 4, 10 innings

6:30 PM LSU 4, Auburn 3 (11 innings)

Saturday, Single Elimination, Semifinals

12 PM Texas A&M 6, Arkansas 5

3:30 PM, Tennessee 7, LSU 6, 10 innings

Sunday

SEC Tournament Championship Game

2 PM CT ESPN2

Tennessee 6, Texas A&M 4

SEC Tournament Champion

Tennessee

I see Tennessee as the overall No.1 seed, Texas A&M as a top 8 seed and hosting through the Super Regional, Arkansas, LSU, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Florida, Georgia and Ole Miss making the NCAA Tournament. Will be stellar at the Met and going forward into into the NCAA Tournament starting a week from Friday, June 3rd.

Justin Thomas started the day Sunday 7 shots back of leader Chilean Mito Periera. Thomas was at 2 under entering the day, while Pereira was at -9. Will Zalatoris started the final round at Southern Hills tied for second at -6, with Matthew Fitzpatrick. It was anybody’s ballgame heading into the final round of the 104th PGA Championship.

Southern Hills was pretty rough on the players, particularly the conditions with high winds, some wind and cooler weather Saturday and Sunday morning. Rory McIlroy was in first after day one after shooting 65, but followed it up with 71, 74 and then shot 68 on Sunday to finish 2 under for the tournament on the Par 70 course.

Justin never gave in though. The 29 year old former University of Alabama player hung tough on Sunday and fired a 67 after going 67-67 on Thursday-Friday before a 74 on Saturday had him at 2 under and 7 shots back going into the final round. He birdied 17 and parred 18 and waited for Zalatoris, Periera and Fitzpatrick to come in. Periera was holding steady and held a one shot lead going into 18. Zalatoris sank a 7 footer on 18 to tie Justin at -5. Periera stepped to the 18th tee and looked to be in a hurry to hit his tee shot. He pretty much blocked it right, it was a Jean van de Velde moment from the 27 year old former Texas Tech player. He finished with a double bogey and lost his chance of winning a major. Now Justin and Zalatoris were in a 3 hole aggregate playoff on 13, 17 and 18. Both birdied the par 5, 13th. After Justin had driven his tee shot into the right rough and Zalatoris hit his down the pike, Justin hit a solid second shot and hit his third shot to 6 feet. Zalatoris reached the green in 2 and birdied, leaving Thomas with a 6 footer to remain tied. He sank it and both went to 17 at -1. Zalatoris hit his tee shot on the short par 4 short of the green, while Thomas hit his tee ball onto the green 25 feet away. Zalatoris was unable to get up and down for birdie and Thomas 2 putted to go to -2 with Zalatoris at -1. Zalatoris hit a 3 wood off 18 tee and was down the middle, but Justin had driven his 50 yards past him. Zalatoris’s approach landed 35 feet below the hole on the collar of the green, while Thomas hit it 25 feet. Zalatoris missed his birdie attempt, and all Thomas had to do was 2 putt, but it was a pressure filled left to right breaking lightning fast putt. Thomas stroked it perfectly and it ended up a foot past the hole. Thomas tapped in for his second major championship. He also won the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, the 99th edition. Thomas collected a $2.7 million paycheck and 5 year exemptions to the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA and the Open Championship. So, quite a dat for the Louisville , Kentucky native and passionate Crimson Tide football fan. This could be the start of something special for this terrific talent, who’s laser focused on winning majors and winning in general. There are no guarantees in golf, but Justin certainly looks like he’ll capture more major championships in the near future. Next major is the U.S, Open at The Country Club, in Brookline, Massachusetts, the site of 3 prior U.S. Opens including the 1913 Open that was won by 20 year old amateur Frances Ouimet over major champions Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in an 18 hole playoff. The Ouimet victory was captured in the classic 2005 movie The Greatest Game Ever Played. Ouimet’s caddie was 10 year old Eddie Lowery, who was a genius. Lowery went on to become very wealthy in the car business and in 1956 in San Francisco made a bet with fellow millionaire George Coleman in which Lowery said his 2 amateurs, Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward, could defeat 2 of the greatest pros of all time, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, in an 18 hole match at Cypress Point in California, one of the premiere courses not only in the U.S., but the world. Mark Frost’s 2009 book, The Match, Frost also wrote The Greatest Game Ever Played, was a fascinating account of a match that was filed with all kinds of birdies and eagles, and a match Ben Hogan won on 18 with a 10 foot birdie. Any avid golf fan would love the book if you haven’t read it. So, some serious history with The Country Club. It also hosted the famous and somewhat infamous 1999 Ryder Cup in which Justin Leonard sank a 40 foot birdie putt to clinch the match for the U.S. and set off a wild celebration that the Europeans were none too happy about. The Europeans had been winning several Ryder Cups and the U.S, was ecstatic to keep a Cup at home. So, the Country Club should be spectacular for the 122nd U.S. Open.

Bama Golf correctly predicted JT winning the PGA, so congrats to Bama on some prophetic predicting. That’s hard to do.

The 126th French Open

The 2nd major on the tennis circuit has already kicked off at Roland Garros, just outside of Paris. Can Rafa Nadal win his 14th French title or will Novak Djokovic win back to back French Opens and tie Nadal for the all time lead in majors at 21. There are some younger players not only German Alexander Zverev (25 years old) and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (23), but also young guns who’ve been coming on.

On the women’s side soon to be 21 year old Polish sensation Iga Swiatek, goes for her second French Open in 3 years, as she won in 2020. It would be her second Grand Slam title as well. She has won 28 straight times now which is 4th best since 2000 and the 14th longest in the Open Era, which started in 1968 when professional players were allowed to play with amateurs in the Grand Slam tournaments. Chris Everett has won the most French titles with 7.

TV

Tuesday, May 24, 4 AM-5 PM CT Tennis Channel

Wednesday, May 25, 4 AM-5 PM CT, TC

Thursday, May 26, 4 AM-5 PM TC

Friday, May 27, 4 AM-5 PM CT, TC

Saturday, May 28, 4 AM-12 PM CT, TC; 10 AM-1 PM CT, NBC/Peacock, 1-5 PM, Peacock, streaming

Sunday, May 29, 4 AM-12 PM, TC; 11 AM-5 PM, Peacock, Stream

Monday, May 30, 4 AM-2 PM CT, TC; 10 AM-2 PM CT, NBC, 2-5 PM CT, Peacock Stream

Tuesday/Wednesday, May 31/June 1, 5 AM-5 PM CT, TC

Thursday, June 2, 5 AM-1 PM CT, Tennis Channel (TC), 10 AM-1 PM, NBC/Peacock, Women’s Semfinals

Friday, June 3, 7 AM-3 PM CT, TC: 10 AM-2 PM CT, NBC/Peacock, Men’s Semifinals

Saturday, June 4 Women’s Final, 8 AM-1 PM CT, NBC/Peacock

Sunday, June 5, Men’s Final, 8 AM-1 PM CT, NBC/Peacock

Predictions

Women’s

Semis

Swiatek over Emma Raducanu, 6-4, 6-2

The 21 year old Polish phenom (turns 21 on May 31st) over the 19 year old 2021 U.S. Open Champion from England.

Coco Gauff over Maria Sakkari 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (10-7)

Coco, the 18 year old potential multiple Grand Slam winner, edges out the 26 year old Greek star, who is on the verge of capturing her first major.

Final

Coco’s going to get there in the near future but Swiatek is just a very hot player right now.

Swiatek over Gauff 6-4, 7-5

Women’ Champion, Iga Swiatek

Men’s

Semis

Carlos Alcaraz over Djokovic 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-5

The 19 year old from Villena, Spain is a budding superstar and he won the Madrid Open May 7th and defeated Nadal, Djoker and Zverev to do it. I like this young stud to knock off Djoker.

Tsitsipas over Denis Shapovalov, 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4

This 22 year old Canadian born in Tel Aviv, Israel looks to be on the rise but I’ll take Stefanos in a hard fought match.

Final

Alcaraz over Tsitsipas 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-5)

Lew Burdette?

One of the 8 Republicans who are trying to unseat incumbent governor Kay Ivey in tomorrow’s primary is Lew Burdette. The only Lew Burdette I’ve ever known of is the late Lew, who was an outstanding pitcher for the then Milwaukee Braves and a pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves when the Braves were not too swift. They had some great names back in the 1970’s though when winning was not at a premium in Atlanta. Guys like Chuck Coggins, Gary Gentry and the all time great Craig “Don’t Choke With” Skok. Bama Golf, T, Galloway and H Jones might enjoy that. T. Galloway may have made one of the best predictions of the year picking the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA Championship. He’s looking good. I’ve got the Miami Heat, so we shall see, but the Warriors are looking unstoppable right now.

Tomorrow Morning around 9 AM

SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met Predictions

Eighty to one long shot Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby, but owner Rick Dawson has decided not to run the horse in the Preakness and save him up for the 154th Belmont Stakes Saturday, June 11th. Such a shocker at Churchill Downs. You would think the Rich Strike team would want to try for the Triple Crown. This is the 4th straight time the Kentucky Derby winner has not run in the Preakness. Surprising.

So there will be nine horses competing in the 14th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Here’s a look at the contenders with their post positions. Post time is 6:01 PM CT and NBC will broadcast.

1. Simplification, 6/1, Traineer, Antonio Sano, Jockey, John Velazquez

2. Creative Minister, 10/1, Trainer, Kenny McPeek, Jockey, Brian Hernandez Jr.

3. Fenwick, 50/1, Trainer, Kevin McKathan, Jockey, Florent Geroux

4. Secret Oath, 9/2, Trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, Jockey, Luis Saez

5. Early Voting, 7/2, Trainer, Chad Brown, Jockey, Jose Ortiz

6. Happy Jack, 30/1, Trainer, Doug O’Neill, Jockey, Tyler Gaffalione

7. Armagnac, 12/1, Trainer, Tim Yakteen, Jockey, Jose Ortiz Jr.

8. Epicenter, 6/5, Trainer, Steve Ausmussen, Jockey, Joel Rosario

9. Skippylongstocking, 20/1, Trainer, Saffie Jospeh Jr. Jockey, Junior Alvarado

Winner

I’m going to take 86 year old trainer D. Wayne Lukas, jockey Luis Saez, and their filly. Lukas has won the Preakness 6 times with his last in 2013 with Oxbox. Give me Lukas again.

Secret Oath

Our baseball team faces the LSU Bengal Tigers this weekend beginning tonight at the Hawk at 7. Friday’s game is at 6 PM and Saturday’s finale is at 1 PM. ESPN2 will televise tonight, SEC Network+ Friday and SEC Network on Saturday.

We are ranked 21st in the country and are 35-16 overall and 14-13 in the SEC. We are tied for fifth with LSU in the overall standings, so this weekend is important for seeding in the SEC Tournament. LSU is 34-18 overall and 14-13 in the conference. They are unranked.

Pitching for us tonight is freshman lefty Devin Futrell (8-1, 2.52). Devin has pitched very well in midweek games, but after a solid first four innings last Friday Night at Arkansas, he was hit pretty hard in the fifth. I trust him though. Friday’s starter is Christian Little (1-1, 2.96). Such a talented pitcher with a power arm. Christian could provide a big lift for us with a good start tomorrow. On Saturday, Chris McElvain will get the start. He’s 5-4 with a 3.93 ERA. Chris has gotten hit pretty hard his last two outings at Georgia and Arkansas, so he needs to step it up for us this Saturday. Carter Holton is being saved for the SEC Tournament first game start I am gathering.

Enrique Bradfield Jr., the reigning SEC player of the week, was 4 for 5 Tuesday in our 7-2 victory over Middle Tennessee and stole his 41st base. Bradfield Jr. is now 41-for-41 in stolen bases. Dom Keegan hit his 12th homer and doubled with 2 Ribeyes to go along with those hits. Spencer Jones was 2 for 4 with a triple and also drove home two. Freshman right hander Bryce Cunningham pitched 4, gave up 4 hits, 1 earned run, with 2 walks and 2 K’s. Bryce was solid and that’ll help going forward, when we get into the postseason and we’ll need all hands on deck on the mound,. Sophomore Grayson Moore was very good as well going 4 innings, and giving up 2 hits, 1 earned, with a 0 walks and 5 K’s. Grayson was outstanding. Freshman lefty Ryan Ginther finished it off with an inning of 1 hit, no run ball with 1 walk and 2 K’s.

So, excellent performance from the team. I imagine the Hawk will be rocking this weekend starting tonight. We need to bring our lunch pales and our hard hats and get the job done at home this weekend.

Men’s Golf

Our Vanderbilt Men’s Golf Team finished 20 under at the Palm Beach Gardens Regional to capture first place by 12 shots over Florida State, which finished at 8 under. We qualified for the NCAA Championships along with No.22 FSU, No. 10 Frorida (-2), No. 40 South Florida (+12) and College of Charleston (+14) out of our regional on PGA National Resort Champions Course.

Freshman Gordon Sargent was superb firing a 6 under 66, and senior Reid Davenport shot a 5 under 67. Fifth year senior Harrison Ott shot even par 72 and sophomore William Moll shot 72 as well. Sargent, who had 6 birdies on his first 12 holes and no bogeys for the day, finished tied for 4th individually. Davenport, birdied 4 of his final 5 holes, and finished tied for 2nd overall. Ott finished tied for 11th and Moll finished tied for 19th. Cole Sherwood, who’s been stellar this year and was in the Regional, had a little bit of an off day with a 2 over par 74, but we definitely trust Cole going forward into the NCAA Championships. We start the NCAA Championships a week from tomorrow, Friday, 5/27, at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, AZ. with 29 other teams in the 30 team field. More on that early next week. We’ll be playing the Raptor Course.

Women’s Golf

Our Vanderbilt Women’s Golf begins play at the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Club tomorrow. The NCAA Championships, played on the Raptor Course, will be VU’s 11th NCAA Championship appearance after an impressive first place finish at the Vanderbilt Regional at the Legends Club in Franklin, TN.

So, huge stuff for the women. Will keep you apprised of their progress over the weekend along with baseball.

Southern Hills Country Club, 7,556 yards, par 70, in Tulsa, Oklahoma will host the 104th edition of the PGA Championship. This is the 5th time Southern Hills has hosted the PGA, with 2007 being the last where Tiger Woods defeated Woody Austin by 2 shots. Southern Hills has also hosted 3 U.S, Opens.

So, impressive venue. Phil Mickelson is the defending champion, having won last year at Kiawah Island, S.C. over Brooks Koepka, at 50 years old. But Mickelson opted not to play after his, to say the least, controversial comments to author and sportswriter Alan Shipnuck last fall that were published in February endorsing the Saudi League led by Greg Norman, now called LIV Golf. He said the PGA has “obnoxious greed” and made many incendiary comments while acknowledging the Saudis are psychotic, the same guys who featured 16 of the 19 terrorists in 9/11 and killed an American journalist, but saying he wanted to create leverage with the PGA. I don’t know what else the PGA can do to make FIGJAM happy. He’s made $800 million by his association with the PGA Tour, though Shipnuck notes in his new biography on Mickelson he lost $40 million in gambling debts and a book coming out next year by gambler Billy Walters is going to make it even worse for Hefty. So, good riddance not having that lightning rod playing.

They asked Tiger Woods about Mickelson’s no show. And Woods said he’s sorry he can’t be there, but there are major philosophical differences with the way Woods views competing in golf and the bay Mickelson does. Woods talked about legacy in the game, making history, being compared to the greats of the past. Of course, he’s done extremely well financially also, but Mickelson is going for the shallow money grab that is Norman and the Saudi league. I like what Tiger had to say. Mickelson’s an idiot quite frankly.

On to this year’s second major.

The weather is interesting.

Thursday, 91, sunny, winds 17 MPH

Friday, Mostly sunny, 88, Winds 19 MPH

Saturday, 65, scattered t storms, 36%, so not a massive chance, winds 15

Sunday, 70, winds 12 MPH.

Wind a huge factor this weekend on a fast, slick course with quick fairways and quick greens, though rain Saturday, though not a huge chance, could soften it a little.

TV

Thursday-Friday, 1-7 PM CT, ESPN

Saturday-Sunday, 9 AM-12 PM CT, ESPN; 1-6 PM CT, CBS

ESPN+ will also be broadcasting each morning of the tournament with coverage all day. Joe Buck has moved over to ESPN along with Troy Aikman to call NFL games and will handle the ESPN+ duties for the PGA. Not sure if Joe has the call for ESPN, but it’s likely.

Key holes,

No.2, 500 yards, Par 4. Tiger Woods drove it 358 yards this past Sunday on this hole. Demanding tee shot, fairway slopes right to left. Approach is a mid iron to a well-bunkered green.

No.5, 656 yards, Par 5, One of only 2 par 5’s on the Par 70. The longest hole on the course. Bunkers on both sides of the landing area and trees make it a difficult tee shot. The stream on No.2 cuts in on the right side of the well-bunkered, undulating green.

No.!2, 456 yards, Par 4. A signature hole at Southern Hills, which Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer called one of America’s great par 4’s. The slight dogleg to the left features a tee shot to a blind landing area on a fairway sloping to the left. The green moves left to right and is protected by bunkers short, left and long. A creek is short and to the right. This is a real thinkers’ hole.

No.14, 230 yards, Par 3. The green on this long par 3 is surrounded by 6 bunkers. The prevailing wind is right to left toward the out-of-bounds, which runs along the entire left side of the hole.

No.18 491 yards, par 4. The closing hole is so difficult that Tiger Woods is the only major champion at Southern Hills to par the 72nd hole. The dogleg left to right requires a tee shot that finds a plateau on the left side of the fairway. The elevated green is well-bunkered and slopes hard to the front. Retief Goosen, Mark Brooks and and Stewart Cink had a comedy of errors on this hole at the 2001 U.S. Open. All 3, with chances to win, 3 putted from 15 feet. Goosen and Brooks went into a playoff the next day which Goosen won. One of his 2 majors. The other was the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in New York.

The Playoff format this year, if there is one, is a 3 hole aggregate on 13, 17 and 18, and if there’s no resolution, a sudden death playoff on 18, 13, 17 and 18.

Odds

Scottie Scheffler, 11/1, Won the Big 12 championship here in 2015. Like his chances.

Jon Rahm, 11/1, Tee to green he’s extraordinary, but his putting can hold him back.

Rory, 14/1, Just the fact that he showed up in the Tuesday press conference in a Nike workout shirt makes me think he’s not going to win.

Justin Thomas, 14/1, Possible. He’s playing pretty well, but can he get over the hump and win another major. He puts a lot of pressure on himself.

Collin Morikawa, 16/1, Hasn’t played that great lately.

Dustin Johnson, 18/1, not seeing it.

Jordan Spieth, 20/1. Playing well right now, but will he miss another 4 foot par putt to blow the tournament. Another guy who puts enormous pressure on himself and everybody around him.

Cameron Smith, 20/1. His catastrophic quadruple bogey at No.12 at Augusta National may still be lingering inside of him. Not seeing it.

Patrick Cantlay, 20/1. Not playing super right now, but with his putter, he’s got a shot.

Xander Schauffele, 22/1, shot 61 last Sunday at Byron Nelson to finish third, but does he have what it takes to win a major.

Hideki Matsuyama, 28/1. I give him a shot, but the putter is always a question mark.

Shane Lowry, 30/1, Colossal blowup at the RBC Heritage. He’s an excellent player, but I’m not seeing it this week.

Will Zalatoris, 30/1, Really fine young player, but his putter can be problematic.

Brooks Koepka, 35/1, not seeing it.

Joaquin Niemann, 35/1, Possible. Stellar player.

Tiger Woods, 50/1, I am seeing this. He’s hitting it a ton. I saw him chipping on Monday on the Golf Channel and he looked superb on a course that demands great chipping. If his putter is working, major number 16 may be in the offing.

Winner

I’m still thinking Tiger may do this. He’s in a great place mentally, and looks as powerful as ever. But, I’m going another route and taking the 25 year old from Dallas. He’s won 4 of the last 8 tournaments he’s played in, including the 86th Masters, he’s calm, a superior putter and outstanding ball striker. The Texas Longhorn will do what his fellow Longhorn Jordan Spieth did in 2015 and that’s win the first 2 majors of the year.

Scottie Scheffler

Our Vanderbilt Men’s Golf Team shot a 6 under total 282 today with par being 288, 4 players scoring counted on the par 72 (288 total), and are now at 9 under overall for the tournament after day 2 of the Palm Beach Gardens Regional on the PGA National Resort’s Champions Course.

We lead second place Florida State (ranked 22 in the country) and No.10 Florida by 9 shots. Both teams are at Even par. No.40 South Florida is next at +8 along with College of Charleston, and No.15 Notre Dame is 6th at +12. The top 5 teams advance to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, May 27th, a Friday, with the championship match taking place June 1st, a Wednesday.

Cole Sherwood and Willam Moll both shot 3 under par 69’s, Gordon Sargent and Reid Davenport each shot even par 72s, and Harrison Ott shot a 4 over 76. The top 4 scores are counted.

Cole recorded 5 birdies, William also posted 5 birdies with 4 coming on the backside, including back to back on 13 and 14. Cole posted 3 on the front and 2 on the back. Reid also carded 5 birdies, but had a few hiccups, which curtailed his round a little. He was still very solid on a highly difficult track. Gordon finished with 3 birdies, including back to back on 17 and 18. What a way to finish.

So, awesome day overall for the team. We are scheduled to tee off at 6:30 AM CT tomorrow, Wednesday, and play with Florida and Florida State. One more hurdle to clear for the guys. Coach Limbaugh says his team is having fun and enjoying the process and the competing. He says he needs one more day of focus from his guys. Will let you know what transpires tomorrow. An excellent first two days.

Baseball hosts Middle Tennessee

Our 21st ranked Commodores host Middle Tennessee today at the Hawk with first pitch at 6 PM. Freshman right hander Bryce Cunningham will take the hill for us. Bryce has been up and down this season, but has good talent. He’s 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA with 12 walks and 25 K’s in 29 innings. Freshman right hander James Seills will be on the bump for the Blue Raiders, which are 28-20 overall and 17-10 in Conference USA, good for a tie for third in the conference with UTSA, Texas-San Antonio. They trail No.17 Southern Miss, which is 20-7 in C-USA and 38-14 overall, and Louisiana Tech, which is 18-9 and 36-17 overall. They have won 6 in a row and went to No.19 Auburn March 11-13 and took 2 out of 3 from the Tigers, and they’ll be gunning for us.

Sells is 4-1 with a 1.75 ERA with 11 walks and 31 K’s in 36 innings, so he’s a threat.

The game will be broadcast by SEC Network+. The Blue Raiders are hitting .283 as a team and have a 4.69 ERA, and a .967 fielding percentage. Their leading hitter is left fielder Jackson Galloway, who is hitting .362 with 7 homers and 31 Ribbies. Galloway was 3 for 4 Sunday in a 21-7 victory over Rice with a double, a triple and 4 RBIs. First baseman Wyatt Morgan hits .317 with 2 homers and 16 Ribbies, and second baseman JT Mabry hits .306.

We are hitting .287 as a team, have a 3.42 ERA and a .979 fielding percentage. Dom Keegan leads us at .382 with 11 homers and 55 Ribeyes after a big 3 RBI day on Sunday in our 5-0 victory at Arkansas. Spencer Jones hits .363 with 7 homers and 41 RBIs and is 11-of-12 in stolen bases. Enrique Bradfield Jr. hits .318 after going off last weekend at Arkansas. Enrique has 7 homers and 28 RBIs. He is also 40-of-40 on stolen bases. He was the SEC player of the week last week, which included 8 for 8 on stolen bases. Checking with Vanderbilt sports information contact for baseball Josh Foster to see if that is some sort of NCAA record. Will let you know tomorrow in my game recap.

Have a good night and let’s get the job done tonight at the Hawk and tomorrow at PGA National.

Stellar freshman left hander Carter Holton pitched a 7 inning complete game shutout to lead the Commodores to a 5-0 victory over Arkansas before 10,806 fans at Baum Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.

Our now 21st ranked team is 34-16 overall and 14-13 in the SEC with games versus Middle Tennessee Tuesday at 6 PM CT on the SEC Network+ and games Thursday through Saturday at the Hawk versus LSU. Thursday’s game is at 7 PM CT on ESPN2, Friday’s game is at 6 PM CT on SEC Network+, and Saturday’s game is at 1 PM on the SEC Network.

Sunday’s game was 7 innings as Saturday’s game was suspended in the bottom of the 6th due to inclement weather. We picked it back up at 11 AM Sunday but fell 11-6.

Holton was brilliant as he only allowed 2 hits with 4 walks and 5 K’s. A couple of those walks were on questionable umpiring behind the plate. Some of those balls that guy called looked like strikes. Very inconsistent guy behind the plate on Sunday.

Holton moved to 7-3 and now has a 3.42 ERA. Our frosh from Savanah has walked 27 and leads the pitching staff with 86 K’s. He’s spectacular. Need to figure out our Saturday guy, who will be our Friday guy this week. Chris McElvain has struggled recently, so we’ll see what Corbs decides.

Tatę Kolwyck hit a run shot, our second baseman’s 8th homer of the season to go along with 31 Ribeyes. Dom Keegan drove in 3 runs and now has 55 Ribbies on the season to go along with 11 homers and a .382 batting average. Good to see our 3 seniors, Javy Vaz being the other, leading the way for our team along with the great Enrique Bradfield Jr, who was SEC player of the week this week. Bradfield Jr. was 2 for 4 with a run scored and 3, thats’ right, 3 stolen bases on the day. The great one is now 40 of 40 in stolen bases. He hit .474 last week in 4 games, he went 8-for-13 at the plate in the weekend series at Arkanas, .615, and was 8 for 8 in stolen bases in four games last week. That’s out of sight good. What a player our young sophomore is. He is now 40-of-40 in stolen bases and hitting .317. I gotta believe Enriques’ a candidate for the Golden Spikes Award given to the best player in the country. How could he not be. I’ll look into when those nominations go out

Holton was named co-SEC pitcher of the week. So super stuff from our freshman.

Big week. We are 14-13 in conference, so it’s a critical weekend series versus the Bengal Tigers. I’ll get more into the SEC implications on Wednesday as we need to take care of business tomorrow night. From what I see, we can finish 2nd, 3rd, 4th or maybe a little worse than that if we can sweep LSU and get help. I know Corbs doesn’t like thinking this way with a game tomorrow night, but wanted to give you that rundown for your information. UT will finish first, then Ark and A&M are at 17-10 and Auburn is at 15-11. Us, Georgia and LSU are at 14-13. So, just need to take care of business this week, Tuesday at 6 PM and Thursday-Saturday. Some challenges ahead this week. The SEC Tourney starts next Tuesday, 5/24, at the Hoover Met in B’ham. We could play Wednesday or Thursday. Just got to get to work this week and take care of our own business and let the standing fall where they may.

Men’s Golf in first after day 1

Our third ranked Men’s Golf team (GolfStat.com poll, the best poll in college golf) is leading the Palm Beach Gardens Regional after day one after firing a 3 under par round on the 7,048 yard PGA National Champions Course. We are 5 shots clear of 2nd place No.40 South Florida, which is +2. No. 15 Notre Dame is third at +4. Davidson is 4th at +5. No. 10 Florida is tied for 5th with College of Charleston at +6.

Harrison Ott shot a 4 under 68 on a difficult course. He is tied for 2nd behind UNCG’s (Greensboro) Nick Lyerly, who is at -5. Harrison is tied with Notre Dame’s Taichi and South Florida’s Sam Nicholson.

Cole Sherwood is in 9th at -1, Reid Davenport is tied for 10th at even par, and Gordon Sargent is tied for 22nd at +2.

We started well then struggled a little on the backside early, but finished very strong with 6 birdies on the final 3 holes.

We tee off at 6:30 AM CT tomorrow and play alongside South Florida and Notre Dame.

The top 5 teams in the 14 team field qualify for the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, May 27th-June 1st, a Friday through a Wednesday.

But can’t worry about that right now. Just need a solid round tomorrow.

Our Women’s Tennis Team lost to No.7 Texas A&M Saturday at College Station, 4-0. We still had an excellent season finishing 18-10 and really finished strong in the SEC and defeated No.10 Ohio State in the round of 32, which was excellent. We were in it in a lot of the matches, both singles and doubles. A&M was kind of our nemesis this season, defeating us 3 times, but they have been a lot of teams’ nemesis as they 33-1 and finished 13-0 in the SEC. We’ve got about every player coming back next season, so we could very well make an even deeper run next season with the talent we have returning. Congratulations to Coach Aleke Tsoubabnos and the our young women on a super season.

Will keep you posted on Men’s Golf tomorrow the Vandy Boys tomorrow night and the rest of this week for both teams and our Women’s Golf Team is at the Grayhawk Golf Club this Friday, 5/20, for the NCAA Championships after a superb first place finish at the Vanderbilt Regional at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, TN.

Enrique Bradfield Jr. hit a 3 run shot in the top of the 11th to lead our 24th ranked Vanderbilt Commodores Baseball team to a 9-6 victory over No.4 Arkansas before 11,772 fans last night at Baum Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.

With the victory, we move to 33-15 overall and 13-12 in the SEC and took over 2nd place with Georgia losing its first 2 games of its series @Tennessee the SEC East Standings. Their series finale has started and is 0-0 in top 1.

Bradfield Jr. was a machine for us last night and got great help from Parker Noland and Thomas Schultz. Enrique was 3 for 5 with a homer, a double and 4 Ribeyes including his 3 run shot that hit the right field foul pole in the top of the 11th after Javy Vaz walked and Parker Noland, who is also knocking the cover off the ball, doubled off the wall in left central. I thought Parker’s shot would be out.

Enrique handled a lot for us last night. He made a diving, beautiful catch in shallow central which thwarted an Arkansas rally in the bottom of the 4th and stole 2 bases and is now 36-of-36 for the season. He’s making a strong case for All American honors and a Golden Spikes Award given to the nation’s best player. Enrique is an absolute stud.

Noland was 2 for 4 with a 2 run shot in the top of the second to left going the opposite way as he’s a left handed hitter, and his 2 run double in the 11th. Thomas Schultz was awesome once again shutting the door for our team as he pitched 3 innings of no hit ball with 2 walks and 2 K’s. Thomas is now 4-1 with a 1.38 ERA. He’s been terrific.

What else can you say about Bradfield Jr. Just a magnificent baseball player. Corbs always looks for those aggressive game changing players when he recruits and he has one in our sophomore. Wow, I’m glad he’s on our team. Terrific young person, too, like all of our guys.

Junior Right hander Chris McElvain on hill tonight for us. Chris is 5-3 with a 3.48 ERA. He’ll face Freshman left hander Hagen Smith, who is 6-2 with a 3.79 ERA.

Game time is 6:30 CT on SEC Network+

Men’s Golf

Coach Scott Limbaugh was named SEC Coach of the year, Freshman Gordon Sargent was named SEC Freshman of the year, Sargent and Cole Sherwood were named first team All SEC and senior Reid Davenport was named second team All SEC. Awesome honors for such deserving people. Proud for Coach and the guys.

Palm Beach Gardens Regionals start this Monday in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. on the PGA National Resort Course. Our No.3 ranked Commodores are the No.1 seed. Big week for the guys. I know they’re pumped as we all are for them. Come on guys, let’s get it done again like we have been all year. Coach Limbaugh wants our guys to be themselves, focus and have fun playing golf and we should be pleased with our results. It’s a 14 team regional with the top 5 teams advancing after 3 rounds, 54 holes of golf to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona May 27th-31st, a Friday through a Wednesday. Need to take care of business on day one of this Regional, that’s the first order of business.

Women’s Tennis

Our 30th ranked women’s tennis team plays at No.7 Texas A&M today in the Sweet 16 at 2 PM CT. The match can be streamed on vucommodores.com Coach Aleke Tsoubanos and her team has been masterful so far in the NCAA’s. This is a major hurdle, but one we can clear with great focus and intensity. I know the Women will be ready.

Have a super Saturday and Anchor Down.