You know that feeling when you’re standing on 16 with a number in your head and you start playing defense? That was Shane Lowry at PGA National -- right up until the Bear Trap reminded everyone why it has a name. One cautious target turns into a tight swing, and suddenly the “easy close” becomes a long walk.
This week is about that exact pivot: the second you stop playing the shot and start protecting the round. If you’ve ever tried to nurse a good score home, you’ve already lived the lesson.
Table of Contents
Birdies: Where the Pros Play 🏆
Echavarria’s flawless weekend flipped everything 🏆
Nico Echavarria didn’t make a bogey all weekend at PGA National, which is basically the golf equivalent of not blinking for 36 hours. Shane Lowry was close to doing the same — until the end, when the Bear Trap took a bite and the lead disappeared fast. Echavarria’s win was equal parts patience and timing: hang around, keep your card clean, then pounce when the course starts asking questions.
Here’s the part I can’t stop thinking about: Echavarria didn’t win by doing anything heroic. He won by refusing to get dragged into chaos — and that’s a skill most of us only pretend we have. Golf doesn’t punish bad swings as much as it punishes fear.
Bay Hill is next, and it doesn’t do “free confidence” 🏆
Now it’s on to Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational — one of those venues that makes great players look ordinary if they get lazy for even a stretch. The field is loaded again, and the storylines are exactly what you want heading into a big stretch: Scheffler looming, Rory always capable of flipping a week with one hot round, and a course that rewards the guy who stays committed when it gets uncomfortable.
My take: Bay Hill is a test of adult decision-making. Not “can you hit the shot?” but “can you keep choosing the right one when the wrong one is more fun?”
Gear Drop: This Week’s Picks ⛳
FUSION Grip ST Wide Golf Shoes — $110
Widen your stance. Tighten your game. These are for anyone whose feet are tired of being squeezed by “standard” sizing and whose balance starts getting sketchy late in the round. Soft spikes + a wider fit is a boring upgrade that pays you back immediately on uneven lies. Check them out here.
Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Driver — from $218.85 (25% off)
This is the compact, workable “better player” head in the Paradym family — lower spin, neutral flight, and the kind of driver that rewards a committed swing. I like it for the exact reason it scares some people: it’s honest. If your miss is a wipey heel cut, this club will not pretend it didn’t happen. Check out the Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Driver here.
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Bogeys: For Us Weekend Golfers 🏌️♂️
Koepka fixed his putting with a Thursday-night tweak 🏌️♂️
This PGA.com piece is catnip for weekend golfers because it isn’t mystical. Koepka made a simple putting change after a rough start, then climbed from awful to elite fast — proof that one small adjustment, repeated, beats “new stroke” fantasies every time.
My connection: I’ve had the exact same experience — one tiny setup cue that feels too simple to matter… until you realize you’re not yanking three-footers like you’re trying to kill a snake. Simple wins because it survives Saturday pressure.
Lag putts “within gimme range” is the real scoring cheat 🏌️♂️
This one’s about speed control -- getting your long putts close enough that the second putt feels automatic instead of terrifying. The advice is practical: fewer hero lags, more predictable pace, and a mindset shift that treats “tap-in range” like the actual goal.
My connection: the easiest way I’ve ever shaved strokes is reducing the second-putt stress. When my lag putts started finishing inside that 3-4 foot window, my scorecard stopped randomly combusting.
Bourbon: Life on the 19th Hole 🥃
This week’s story comes from a reader who reminded me why we keep showing up — even when the round is a grind.
I’m calling him “Weekend Wanderer” because we’ve all had that day where the course feels like it’s blowing against you personally.
“I arrived at the course thinking it would be another ho-hum day. By the 8th hole I was fighting the rough and the wind. Then I parked my approach on 9, watched the ball sit eight feet away… and made it. Just a clean, singing tap-in. It was the only good swing I had that day… but it made the whole round worthwhile.”
Some swings are worth remembering -- that’s why we keep returning.
⭐ Course of the week ⭐
Erin Hills (Erin, Wisconsin) is the kind of place that makes you want to walk taller — big, open fescue golf that feels like an event even if you’re just there on a random weekday. Worth playing for: the scale of it. Huge property, wide horizons, and approach shots that demand you pick a number and commit like you mean it. What will hurt: miss into the fescue and you’ll learn how quickly “nice drive” turns into “where did it go?” This is not a place to spray it and hope.
Where/how to book: Erin Hills reservations page (tee times + stay options)
If I’m going all the way to Erin, I’m walking it, I’m taking one extra ball in my pocket, and I’m accepting ahead of time that the fescue is going to win a couple of arguments.
One Last Thing
Golf punishes protection swings because they’re not fully a swing -- you’re half committing and half negotiating with your fear. The Tour showed it at PGA National, and Erin Hills will show it to anyone who wanders into the fescue thinking they can “get away with one.” If you want one goal this weekend, make it simple: pick a real target and swing like you’re allowed to miss.
That’s how good rounds finish, and it’s how bad ones stop multiplying.
See you next week,
Adam Rosen
Editor-in-Chief, Birdies, Bogeys & Bourbon
PS: Have a fun golf story? Share it here, and we may include it in the next edition.