Nelly Korda’s Post-it notes, LeBron James’ first golf highlight and Dustin Johnson’s all-time Dustin Johnson moment

Nairavoice | Jun 9, 2026 3d ago 417 0 8 min read

Nelly Korda’s Post-it notes, LeBron James’ first golf highlight and Dustin Johnson’s all-time Dustin Johnson moment

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we have a slight argument this year with Monday being called “Golf’s Longest Day.” U.S. Open final qualifying is a grind for sure, but hopping in a car at midnight, driving through the night from New York to Myrtle Beach (a difficult decision made for a variety of reasons) and then rolling out of the car onto the first tee like my golf group plans to do in less than three weeks for the 2026 HGGA Championship is, technically, going to be a longer day. But until then, let’s focus on all the other golf happening—and on banking some sleep.

WE’RE BUYING

Nelly Korda: If she wasn’t already, Korda is now a truly historical figure in golf after winning a first U.S. Women’s Open and becoming the youngest American with four LPGA majors since Mickey Wright in 1960. Korda’s clutch birdie on the penultimate hole gave her the lead at Riviera, and her lipped-in two-footer on 18 secured $2.5 million:

Korda isn’t just putting together a remarkable season, she’s putting together what could go down as the greatest season ever if she keeps this up. In eight starts, Korda has won four times, including the year’s first two majors, and finished outside of the top-two just once. And she gives some credit to writing positive Post-it notes to herself that she sticks on her mirror at home and on the road. “I travel with Post-it notes and I stick them on to the mirror when I get ready and I write myself a positive note and that’s my thought for the week,” Korda said. Hmm. I might have to try that.

And now Nelly is either a Women’s British Open or an Evian Championship away from completing the career Grand Slam (it’s weird with there being five majors in the women’s game), but at this rate, it’s not inconceivable that she goes ahead and pulls off the calendar slam with all five.

Oh, yeah, and she’s also basically locked up earning a spot in the Hall of Fame at some point this year. At 27 years old. A historical figure, indeed.

J.T. Poston: It wasn’t technically “Golf’s Longest Day,” but Poston had himself quite a long Sunday at Muirfield Village. He played 31 holes in regulation and then a couple extra playoff holes before finally winning the Memorial. For a second straight week, we saw a birdie on a tough finishing hole to force extra holes (Apologies to Ryan Gerard for playing the tough role of Eric Cole this week):

Icon Sportswire

Incredibly, Poston hadn’t recorded a single top-20 finish in 2026, but now he’s got a fourth career PGA Tour title and the biggest win of his career. Golf!

Ben Kohles: OK, now this is a guy who could hang on my golf trip. Kohles won the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am and then almost immediately hit the road from South Carolina to Maryland to get to his U.S. Open qualifying. The cameras caught some of his chaotic evening, including a sweet goodbye to his daughters:

And it was all worth it as Kohles qualified for his second U.S. Open (Congrats to all the qualifiers). Ben, if you want to spend more time in South Carolina at the end of the month, let me know.

WE’RE SELLING

Nelly’s shoe gamble: Look, I get it. If LeBron James gave me a pair of custom shoes, I’d instantly wear them as well. But when you’re playing in your biggest event of the year, that’s a big risk. Korda wound up changing back to her old Nikes after a few holes on Thursday and that got her back to her old self:

The lesson? Don’t make any big wardrobe changes ahead of a big round. So, thanks for the reminder, Nelly. I’ll be sure to remember that when I’m doing my scripting for Myrtle Beach.

Prematurely picking up your marker: Poor Adam Svensson had a brutal brainfart during extra holes of his U.S. Open final qualifier in Ontario. After being eliminated from earning one of the site’s automatic spots, the PGA Tour winner picked up his ball marker not realizing that the potentially important first-alternate spot was still in play:

Whoops. That could wind up being a very costly mistake. However, at least Svensson had a chance to qualify. Unlike these guys …

Missing a tee time: Especially an important one. And, no, this is not a Garrick Higgo at the PGA Championship situation. Instead, six PGA Tour Americas players wound up not getting to their U.S. Open final qualifier in time after their flight the night before from Mexico to Miami was delayed due to a medical emergency.

That is an all-time brutal break. Of course, we hope whoever was dealing with that medical emergency is doing better now. But it might take a few days for these guys to get over that as well.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour season rolls on with the RBC Canadian Open, AKA that one they play in Canada, AKA that one where Tiger Woods hit that famous bunker shot once upon a time. The LPGA is in Michigan for the Dow Championship while the DP World Tour takes a rare week off ahead of next week’s U.S. Open.

Random tournament fact: Three years before his famous winning shot, Tiger Woods missed the cut at the Canadian Open. It was the first missed cut of his pro career. He never played in the event again after winning in 2000. Talk about leaving on top.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Someone will completely miss their tee time at TPC Toronto: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Tommy Fleetwood will win at TPC Toronto: 11-to-1 odds (Favorite)

—Plenty will bet that despite him still never having won a full-field PGA Tour event: LOCK

TWEET(S) OF THE WEEK

I’m singling out two, and both have to do with Scottie Scheffler seeming to take caddie Ted Scott to task after finding the water with a tee shot. First, our Chris Powers put his own (funny) spin on what went down:

And then a mock up of some potential merch from this moment:

I’d buy one.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Yeah, we saw it, Nelly. That was crazy.

VIRAL VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK

An incredible pair of reactions. First, Dustin Johnson literally shrugging off making a hole-in-one:

Maybe the all-time DJ being DJ moment.

And then, how about Ryan Gerard’s perfect retort to a heckler:

Well done, Ryan. Also, who in the world is out there heckling Ryan Gerard?! If you’re doing that, you need to take a long look in the mirror.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Plenty of good stuff from the Poston family following J.T.’s triumph at the Memorial, including him getting that coveted Jack Nicklaus handshake while holding his daughter:

Aww. But I also liked seeing Charlie Woods caddieing for his good friend and future Florida State teammate Miles Russell at a U.S. Open final qualifier:

That’s what friends are for. And 17-year-old Miles wound up advancing.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

LeBron James from downtown!

How about that? He loves golf so much he might actually retire from basketball.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I didn’t know it was next week.” —Chase Kyes, a rising sophomore at the University of Tennessee, after qualifying for the U.S. Open. Next week’s U.S. Open. Hopefully, the young man can clear his schedule for that!

THIS AND THAT

Nelly Korda changed her grip during the U.S. Women’s Open—and still won. So she can successfully change to a new grip, but not to new shoes during a tournament. … Congrats to Tyrrell Hatton on winning the LIV Andalucia event for his first win as a dad. We’ll see if that new “perspective” can lead to a first major as well. … Speaking of LIV Golf, in his latest interview with Flushing It Golf, Bryson DeChambeau said he might miss the cut in all four majors this year and that “That’s just golf.” What happened to this guy? … And, finally, I loved seeing my fellow Wake Forest classmate Bill Haas out there shooting a 63 at U.S. Open final qualifying with his son carrying, well, pushing the bag: