PGA Championship 2024: Johnson Wagner suffers shanks again on live TV, continues to be hero that golf needs

LOUISVILLE — Felix Adler once wrote, “The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by.” Adler penned this in 1905, but it’s clear he was prophesying about a man who would one day come when golf was short on hope.

That day is here, and that man is Johnson Wagner.

Wagner has been winning his way into the hearts of viewers with dramatic reenactments during Golf Channel’s “Live From” as of late, and Saturday evening was no different. Wags was perched on Valhalla’s 15th green, attempting to underline the difficulty of Xander Schauffele’s chunked chip that led to a double and ushered in a congested leaderboard heading into Sunday. “Attempting” is the operative word; for the second time this week, Wagner suffered the chipping yips on live television:

It’s incredible, really, that LIV Golf and the tour have burned billions trying to better the product of professional golf, only to be usurped by Wagner hurling balls at a hill like Aroldis Chapman and battling a case of the shanks.

We suppose it’s no coincidence Wagner is so good at reenactments. After all, that mustache of his makes him look like a guy who participates in Civil War reenactments in his spare time. There’s no cheering in the press box, but our only wish for Sunday at this PGA Championship is for something ridiculous to occur next to one of Valhalla’s waterfalls, if only for “Live From” to make one final call to the bullpen, and let Wagner putting the finishing touches on this ridiculous week.