‘You come to a fire pit to hear a story, or tell one. This Fire Pit collects them.’
So say Monday Q-school king, Ryan French and his band of associates, the respected bunch including Matt Ginella and Alan Shipnuck, the journalist that broke the golfing internet with that Phil Mickelson story.
While he had been doing the minor job for a while, French launched himself into golfing superstardom during lockdown 2020, covering the likes of the Cactus and Outlaw mini-tours. His stream of stories include players living off tin cans whilst sleeping in virtual wrecks and working in stores immediately after playing for hours on end, but he’s topped the lot with the story posted on Monday.
As he says himself, “On Friday I had walked off the plane upon returning home from a trip to San Diego. I was looking forward to a quiet night with my family when I got a DM. “You aren’t going to believe this,” it read. I get a lot of those DMs, and often the story turns out not to be a big deal.”
The tale is long and complicated, so I’ll try to summarise enough that you pop over to the site to read the full, unedited version.
The story takes place at the final round of a pre-qualifier for Q-School, held at Quarry Oaks, a 7,200-yard par-71 course in Ashland, Nebraska.
Five people are involved here: players Matt Moroz, Andrew Ni and Grant Haefner, as well as caddies Andy Smith for Moroz and Clayton Kucera, looping for Ni.
All three were on the cut line, needing something positive to progress their individual dreams, but, after rumors of foul play the day before, Nebraska PGA officials planned to keep a close eye on the group, particularly on Moroz, who had often been spotted walking well ahead of his two playing partners.
Ryan writes, “For four holes during the final round, nothing unusual happened. Things changed on the 5th hole, a 375-yard par-4. “
Having found himself in the rough off the tee, and facing a tough second, Moroz played his approach and commented to Smith that, “I skullfucked it.”
True to the whispers, player and caddie walked ahead of the rest of the group towards a hidden green. As Ni and Haefner approached the putting surface, they found Moroz walking towards them, “pumping his fists and yelling, ‘It’s in the hole!'”
Neither player had seen Moroz retrieve the ball from the hole, but the report states that, “Haefner reasoned with himself, “We have all seen crazy bounces in golf.” Haefner and Ni both recall Moroz saying something like: “Maybe it bounced off the turkeys.” It was a reference to a flock of turkeys that were loitering in the rough. Moroz denied saying that, adding, “Maybe my caddie, Andy, did it as a joke.”
It gets crazier. In discussion, well after the event, Moroz states he has a video of the ball in the hole, a video nobody mentioned at the time!
Firepit quote Smith as saying, “I wouldn’t normally video a shot, but we were excited. It got us from 4 to 6 under.”
Make of it what you will, but two holes later they reach the 458-yard par-4 7th.
Haefner hits the short stuff, but Ni goes into the left penalty area and lefty Moroz pulls one into the same trouble, but right.
The course has a spotter for the Q-School and the wayward drives were not unusual. What followed certainly was.
“The spotter stuck a red flag in the ground where Moroz’s ball had entered the hazard and headed across the fairway to look for Ni’s ball. Haefner, Ni, his caddie, the spotter and a rules official who had rolled up to the group began searching for Ni’s ball, which they found.”
Neither Moroz nor Smith helped locate Ni’s ball, but as all three made their way to the green,
“Haefner, having grown increasingly skeptical, asked Moroz what he was putting for. ‘Birdie,’ he replied.”
From dense, almost unplayable rough in a penalty area, Moroz had 15 feet for bird. Fire Pit report that the player “explained that Smith had found his ball just outside the penalty area, nearly 30 yards ahead (and around a corner of the wooded area) of where the ball entered.”
It was becoming a bit much for the other two, and the experienced Kucera reported his suspicions to a rules official, who returned to the spot they believed Moroz had hit his previous drive. Rumor was becoming a fact.
In what surely is one of the most unbelievable of stories, French continues his chronicle.
“The 8th hole would bring even more drama as Moroz fell to the ground in apparent back pain. This scene played out so often over the next 10 holes that Kucera would say on a tee after Moroz had fallen yet again, “get up and get out of the way.” As the group walked down the fairway, Smith told Kucera, “When a guy is hurt, don’t tell him to get out of the way.” To the caddie and other other players, it felt as if Moroz was faking the injury in an attempt to gain sympathy.”
Suspected cheats may not prosper but “on the par-5 18th, he [Moroz] hit two good shots to reach the front bunker but skulled his third over the green. Then he holed a 15-yard downhill chip shot for birdie. As a result, he moved the cut line, knocking out a couple of young pros trying to launch their careers.”
Of course, the round finished with plenty of speculation and, after some discussion, a PGA Tour rules official was waiting to interview the five members of the group.
The report then shows some variety in the evidence given.
“He [Moroz] said he hit a 9-iron into the green [on the 7th]. Kucera spoke up, saying Moroz couldn’t have reached the green with a 9-iron, considering it was an uphill 450-yard hole that was playing into the wind. On Saturday, Moroz told me he had hit 8-iron. “Andy told me I hit 8,” he said. “I thought I hit 9, but Andy told me he gave me 8. I can usually tell by looking at the loft, but…” (His voice trailed off, and he didn’t finish the sentence.)”
The official, Tom Hearn, also showed Moroz what he believed to be the ball ‘lost’ in the rough of the 7th hole.
“According to Haefner, Moroz denied it was his ball before acknowledging it was. Hearn explained the ball had been found on the 7th hole at precisely the spot where the official had placed the flag. Moroz quickly transitioned, saying although it was one of his balls, he had hit a ball there the previous day and two others during his practice round, reasoning it must have been a ball he never found from those rounds.”
They returned to the course to show the landing areas of these suspicious drives, and after much discussion, Moroz was predictably disqualified.
French spoke to the player and was told,
“Why? I don’t understand how I can be DQ’d. I was pissed. I paid a lot of money ($3500) to play in this tournament, and I didn’t like seeing my caddie upset because they accused him of dropping the ball.”
French, who posts as @acaseofthegolf1 on Twitter, delves deeper into the history of Matt Moroz, finding out that of all the hole-in-ones he claims to have made (including at par-4s), “none of the people I spoke with saw the ball go in the hole.”
Amazingly that wasn’t all, and on Tuesday, French reported that Vincent Bachteler, the tournament director for the section, and Brett Renner, the digital media director, visited two of the holes in question, and found deep in the woods balls containing markings attributed to Moroz in areas his balls were suspected to have ended up during the event.
When reached for a comment on Tuesday, Moroz told the Fire Pit: “No comment.”
You can read the full tale on the FirePit site, and make sure to check out the accompanying podcasts on the wildest DQ story possibly ever heard. Perhaps it’s best summed up best by Ryan himself,
“After spending two days learning about the enigmatic Moroz and his unusual antics, the author of that DM was right: I still can’t believe it.”
"Maybe it bounced off the turkeys…"
An aspiring Korn Ferry pro with an unbelievable past was bounced after a couple of curious shots. @acaseofthegolf1 with the full story and two part podcast presented by @GOLFTEC: https://t.co/jz4uSv9x2u pic.twitter.com/8D1essrANz
— Fire Pit Collective (@firepitstories) August 29, 2022
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Respected bunch including Alan Shipnuck ???
Perfect candidate for LIV .. put him on Patrick Reeds team!!!!!!
Pingback: Golfer suspected of cheating in wild disqualification incident at Q-School - GolfWRX
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/aspiring-tour-pro-pulls-off-one-of-the-craziest-hole-in-one-feats-weve-ever-heard-about
I had a stroke reading this
Got a racist douche on our hands here apparently.
Yawn. 109 evictions isn’t a race problem.
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It’s been one of, if not the most, dramatic years in golf’s professional history, with the new LIV Golf Series sending shockwaves throughout the sport.
At the heart of the breakaway LIV Golf Series is Phil Mickelson, whose statement to Alan Shipnuck that he was using LIV as ‘leverage’ against the PGA Tour forced Lefty into exile amid a fierce backlash to the comments Mickelson later described as “reckless”.
The 52-year-old re-emerged when he signed for LIV Golf, for a fee of around $200 million, and his return to the course saw the 6-time major champ struggle mightily with his play while also having to deal with hecklers unhappy with his actions.
However, in reaction to the upstart LIV Golf, the PGA Tour recently announced several changes to its respective tour that will see several huge financial benefits offered to its top-tier and lower-tier members.
The changes were so monumental that they even prompted Alan Shipnuck to react by saying: “Phil was right.”
In a recent interview with Bob Harig of SI, Mickelson opened up on a number of topics surrounding the current state of affairs of professional golf and dismissed the idea that his legacy may have been negatively affected by his deeds in 2022.
I feel that my legacy is being built right now.” said Mickelson. “The changes that professional golf are going through I believe are in the best interest for the fans and the players. I feel that it’s being built right now. It hurts to see so much hostility and negativity, for sure. I really believe in the end it’s going to be worth it and I think in the long run everyone is going to come out ahead.”
“So my legacy is being built. But I also have 30 years of being a part of the Tour and appreciate what the Tour has given me and my family. And those relationships that have been formed and the connections with fans. So many memories and moments and friendships.”
According to Mickelson, the changes the PGA Tour has made that are going to earn players a lot more money in the future has prompted tour members to reach out to him and thank him for his role in the injection of cash.
Asked by Harig had any players either thanked him or acknowledged to him that he had some underlying points that were valid, Mickelson responded:
“Yes, numerous. And I’m very appreciative. They are from both sides. I think players on both sides of LIV and the PGA Tour are appreciative of what is happening. Every player is benefiting.’’
In addition, Mickelson revealed to Harig that he “wholeheartedly believes” that he’ll be at Augusta in 2023 for the Masters, and while he doesn’t feel “vindicated” by the recent PGA Tour changes, he admitted that “I’m generally happy that the top players who are really driving the Tour and creating the interest are being listened to.”
As for a truce between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, Mickelson believes that things will eventually work themselves out.
“I think we’re in a bit of a grace period before it all works itself out. I believe it will in time. I believe these organizations will come together in time and find a solution. The upside is tremendously high, especially on a global scale. So I’ve moved forward to try and help promote that and LIV Golf.’’
On Thursday at the Made in Himmerland event on the DP World Tour, 30-year-old Aaron Cockerill had a moment he’ll never forget before suffering a fate that he’d rather forget.
On the 16th hole at Himmerland, the Canadian hit a hole-in-one, making it back-to-back weeks that Cockerill recorded an Ace in professional tournament play.
The Ace took Cockerill from one-over par on the day to one-under before following up the spectacular hole-in-one with a quadruple-bogey 8 on the next.
To make matters worse, Cockerill then forgot to sign his scorecard following his round and was subsequently DQ’d from the event.
Taking to Twitter after the day’s play, Cockerill confirmed the hole-in-one, saying he didn’t ‘validate’ it on the next and blamed “some hole in one chatter in the recording area” for forgetting to sign his scorecard.
All is not lost, however, as last week’s Ace from Cockerill earned the 30-year-old the grand prize of 30,000 Swiss francs worth of life insurance courtesy of Vaudoise Insurances.
So he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
Tiger Woods’ personal Red Dot Scotty Cameron backup putter is now up for auction.
Golden Age Auctions has listed the putter starting at $5,000. As of Friday at around 07:00 AM E.T., the bidding has reached $72,104.00. The bidding is to remain open for seventeen days.
“This coveted 2000s Tiger Woods backup putter has become the marquee modern golf collectible. There are only a handful of pieces of sports memorabilia that we can be relatively certain will be collected for centuries – Babe Ruth’s bat; Muhammad Ali’s gloves; Michael Jordan’s shoes. When it comes to golf, there’s one such item that we would add to the list above all others – Tiger Woods’ red dot Scotty Cameron putter.”
It must be noted that this is not the putter than Tiger used in the prime of his career to win most of his major championships. Tiger is still using that putter today, and it’s estimated that his primary Scotty Cameron could be worth up to $10 million.
While the putter is a backup, Woods still would have used the putter quite often during practice. There were very few of these putters made specifically for Tiger, which explains why the price is still rising on the putter despite it never being Woods’ primary flatstick.
The G.O.A.T was in possession of this putter until 2005, when he autographed the face and then auctioned it at a fundraiser. The event raised money for the foundation’s first TGR Learning Lab campus.
This marks the first time since 2005 that this putter has been put to auction.
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