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