🏌🏻Why Is Rory Taking A Break?

Good morning. Peacock’s exclusive first round coverage of the US Open delivered NBC Sports’ most streamed golf telecast on record!

The first round viewership on Peacock was up 52% from last year while USA Network’s viewership numbers were up 30% from the last East Coast US Open (in 2022).

The figures for the weekend haven’t beeen revealed yet.

Today’s Trivia: The Travelers Championship is the next stop on the PGA Tour calendar - who's the defending champion? Answer at the end of the email.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1960, Arnold Palmer famously came from seven shots behind to win the US Open with a final round score of 65, overcoming leader Mike Souchak.

NEXT ON THE TEE
Tournaments This Week

PGA Tour: Travelers Championship 

📍 When and Where: June 20-23, TPC River Highlands
💰 Purse: $20 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg

LPGA Tour: KPMG Women's PGA Championship

📍When and Where: June 20-23, Sahalee Country Club
💰 Purse: $10 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, Lilia Vu

LIV Golf: LIV Nashville

📍When and Where: June 21-23, The Grove, Nashville
💰 Purse: $25 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka

DP World Tour: KLM Open 

📍When and Where: June 20-23, The International, Amsterdam
💰 Purse: $2.5 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Rasmus Hojgaard, Luke List, Matt Wallace

ALBATROSS
Rory Takes Time Off From Golf

Rory McIlroy will take time off from the sport following his heartbreaking loss at the US Open. McIlroy broke his silence on Monday and admitted that Sunday was "probably the toughest" day in his career as a professional golfer.

McIlroy issued a statement on social media expressing disappointment over the way his week came to an end at Pinehurst. Click here to read the full version.

After a month-long break, he will switch focus to the Scottish Open (July 11-14) and The British Open (July 17-21).

🚫 Withdraws From Travelers: McIlroy withdrew from this week’s Travelers Championship to "process everything and build himself back up" for his defense at the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon.

The Travelers Championship is a $20 million PGA Tour signature event and McIlroy was not replaced in the field. He notably boasts top-20 finishes in all five of his starts at TPC River Highlands, with his best-ever finish a T-7 last year.

While McIlroy will be absent from the field, world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Sahith Theegala, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark and other stars have already confirmed their participation.

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
US Finalize Men's Team For Paris Olympics

The US men's golf team has now been solidified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Olympic golf participants are chosen entirely by a system based on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).

Countries are granted as many as four slots in the 60-player field - here are the ones who'll represent Team US in a month's time.

🏌‍♀Scottie Scheffler: Scheffler was ensured of a spot in the team well before the 2024 US Open. The World No 1 won five events between March 7 and June 9 and that was enough to cement his place.

🏌‍♀Xander Schauffele: In addition to his first major win at the PGA Championship, Schauffele logged eight top-10 finishes over 10 events, including an eighth-place finish at the Masters.

He also won the gold medal at the 2021 Olympics, so his experience in Tokyo should help him fare well in the Paris competition.

🏌‍♀Wyndham Clark: Clark entered the 2024 US Open as the No 4-ranked golfer in the world, so he had plenty of leeway in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to make the Olympics.

Despite a disappointing T-56 finish at Pinehurst, he edged out Bryson DeChambeau to take a spot in the team.

🏌‍♀Collin Morikawa: Morikawa is currently World No 7 and ranks eighth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained thanks to his top-ranked driving accuracy. It shouldn't surprise anyone to see him challenge for the gold medal in Paris.

⛳️ DeChambeau Misses Out: Bryson DeChambeau just missed out on qualifying for the Olympics golf field despite his win at the US Open. The win jumped DeChambeau up to No. 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings, which are used to build the 60-man field for the Games in Paris.

But since five other Americans are still ahead of him in the standings, and only four golfers maximum are allowed to compete from a single country, he won’t get to play at Le Golf National.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news 

Korn Ferry Tour: John Daly II, the son of PGA Tour fan favorite John Daly, will make his Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) debut this weekend at the Compliance Solutions Championship.

Sponsors' Corner: Car rental company Avis has extended its sponsorship deal with the PGA Tour through 2028, and added reigning PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele as a brand ambassador.

PGA Tour: Michael Thorbjornsen has become just the second player to earn a PGA TOUR card by finishing No 1 in PGA TOUR University. He is guaranteed PGA TOUR status for the remainder of 2024 and all of the following year.

LPGA Tour: The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship makes its much-anticipated return to Sahalee Country Club for the first time in eight years - here are five things you need to know.

TGL: Hideki Matsuyama joins the Boston TGL team owned by Fenway, McIlroy. He’ll join McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott in the Bolton squad.

BIRDIE
These 9 Things Make DeChambeau's Equipment Unique

Every pro has access to elite custom fitters who can personalize and customize equipment to enhance their performance, but no golfer goes to the extremes like Bryson DeChambeau - here are nine things about his gear that are unusual and unique.

📌 14 Graphite Shafts: For decades, graphite shafts were stigmatized as suitable only for seniors and those needing ultra-lightweight options. This outdated view has changed.

DeChambeau uses graphite shafts in all 14 of his clubs. In 2018, he signed an endorsement deal with LA Golf, leading to the release of his signature line of graphite wood and iron shafts.

📌 3D-printed Irons: Before the Masters, the USGA approved a custom set of 3D-printed Avoda irons for DeChambeau and added them to the conforming club list, making them legal for competition. DeChambeau then added them to his bag in Augusta and continues to use them with great success.

📌 Huge Grips: DeChambeau uses JumboMax Tour Series XL grips on all his full-swing clubs. These grips are 3/8" larger in diameter than standard ones, feeling and looking much bigger.

These large grips decrease hand and wrist action, helping him improve consistency with irons and wedges.

📌 Same Length Irons and Wedges: Traditionally, golf clubs vary in length, with each club getting shorter as the loft increases.

Since 2011, DeChambeau has however used irons and wedges all at 37.5 inches, the length of a traditional 7-iron. This makes his higher-lofted irons longer and his low-lofted irons shorter than standard.

📌 Ultra-strong Lifted Woods: Many fast-swinging pros use drivers with 9 or 8 degrees of loft, sometimes even less.

DeChambeau, however, uses a Krank Formula Fire driver with 6 degrees of loft, adjusted to play at 5 degrees. His Krank Formula Fire 3-wood has 10 degrees of loft, making it a mini driver, and his 5-wood has 13 degrees of loft, akin to a strong-lofted 3-wood.

Read the full article.

DRIVING RANGE
Hit Your Irons Farther

In today's video, we show you an impact drill to hit your irons farther and with deadly accuracy.

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