Aldrich Potgieter Gets Playoff Revenge, Patrick Reed Wins In The Big D, And Now It's Time For Corn

The only thing better than one playoff is two playoffs, which is exactly what the golf gods gifted us this weekend. It's always the unexpecting Sundays that deliver a good bit of drama, and we got just that on both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Patrick Reed did just about everything in his power to not win LIV Dallas, but hung tight to get into the playoff before reminding everyone that nobody loves the moment more than he does.

Speaking of the moment, Adrich Potgieter showed that he wasn't quite ready for it earlier this year when he lost in a playoff in Mexico, but he undoubtedly leaned on that experience in a marathon of a playoff to earn his first win on Tour at the ripe age of 20.

Lastly, corn is the Par Talk theme of the week. I promise it'll make sense.

Thoughts, concerns, or you just want to talk a bit of golf? Reach out to me via email at mark.harris@outkick.com or find me on X @itismarkharris.

Patrick Reed Gets It Done In His Home State

Patrick Reed entered this week's LIV Golf event in Dallas as the best player without a win on the Saudi-backed circuit. Heading into Sunday's final round, everything was perfectly aligned for him to break through in what was his 42nd LIV start. The American held a three-shot lead with 18 holes to play and had the comfort of playing in his home state of Texas, but things are never as easy as they may seem.

Reed shot 3-over on his opening nine holes, allowing Tyrrell Hatton, Harold Varner III, Jinichiro Kozuma, and Louis Oosthuizen back into contention. He even became the hunter instead of the hunted late on Sunday, squandering the lead, but a run of nine-straight pars on the back nine was just enough to get Reed into a four-man playoff at 6-under.

The lights don't get much brighter than a four-man playoff in your home state with your first title and a $4 million check on the line; and in pretty predictable fashion, Reed made the quickest work possible of the extra golf with a birdie on the difficult 18th hole.

Prior to finding the winner's circle in Dallas, Patrick Reed was not a part of the Ryder Cup conversation, despite what various LIV bots on social media may have been telling you. 

Patrick Reed Lays Out His All-Or-Nothing Plan Of Making The U.S. Ryder Cup Team

With this victory, he's still very much on the outside looking in on being a captain's pick, but it does put him on the radar. That radar is incredibly wide at the moment and has a number of players in its path, but a win plus Reed's experience in the Ryder Cup, makes him impossible to completely ignore on a prospective U.S. team that may have a hole, or multiple holes, towards the bottom of the team.

Having said all that, his victory in Dallas does not change the fact that he has to show serious life at The Open next month. Reed finished solo third at the Masters back in April, and another Top 3 finish, as demanding as it may seem, may be around the bare minimum he needs across the pond to garner serious attention from U.S. team captain Keegan Bradley.

Reed has three Top 10 finishes at The Open in his career, with his last coming back in 2019.

Aldrich Potgieter Has Officially Arrived

Aldrich Potgieter leads the PGA Tour in average driving distance and average ball speed. He is impressive as all hell, and it takes watching him hit about two golf shots to come to that realization. 

While his ridiculous length is worthy of plenty of attention, it may just be his maturity and ability to quickly learn from the past that he deserves the most credit for.

Potgieter doesn't turn 21 years old until September, but his win at The Rocket Classic on Sunday shows that he is wise beyond his years.

In late February, Potgieter found himself in a playoff against Brian Campbell at the Mexico Open in what may be the most lopsided playoff in PGA Tour history, with Campbell being the shortest player off the tee on the PGA Tour and Potgieter being the longest.

The playoff set up perfectly for Potgieter as well, with the extra hole being a reachable Par 5, yet it was Campbell who found the winner's circle after making birdie the second time around.

After the playoff loss, Potgieter struggled mightily, missing seven cuts in eight weeks before finally finding form again with a T-6 finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge at the end of May.

Potgieter then took a full month off before turning up at The Rocket Classic, and while Detroit Golf Club fit his skill set, a month off is a month off.

As it turned out, that month off was exactly what the young man needed. With rounds of 62-70-65, the South African set himself up with a chance to win on Sunday, and while it may have taken five extra holes with Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk, Potgieter pulled through with a birdie on the Par 3 15th to earn his maiden victory on Tour.

Losing in a playoff to a player you out drive by 50 yards four months ago, followed by a horrendous run of form, only to get the job done via playoff a few months later is the definition of class. 

It's Corn Week!

If you're an American golf fan and corn doesn't cross your mind this week, then I question your loyalty to not only the game of golf but to your country.

This week's PGA Tour stop may technically be in Silvis, Ill., but it is essentially on the border of Iowa, and the John Deere Classic has always been associated with the state that produces more corn than its 49 brethren. On top of that, the Fourth of July is Friday, and if some form of corn on the cob is not on your plate after a day filled with beer and pool time, then your priorities are out of whack. Grilled corn is the undisputed first-overall pick when it comes to side dishes on the Fourth.

If sweating over a grill, hydrating with light beer, and watching a golf tournament live from the Corn State (but technically Illinois) is wrong, then I do not want to be right.

The John Deere Classic may only have two Top 25 players in the world teeing it up this week, but we wouldn't have it any other way as it is the perfect, laid-back tournament to have on the background as we celebrate the greatest country in the history of the world.