Michael Thorbjornsen finally broke through. The 24-year-old, a Wellesley High grad who'd been runner-up twice on Tour without closing the deal, went out and shot a bogey-free 7-under 63 in the final round of the Rocket Classic, capped by a 26-foot birdie on the last hole to get to 18-under and beat Xander Schauffele by 2 strokes. He entered Sunday 4 shots back. That's the kind of finish that gets you a seat on Fore Play the following week.
Riggs announced Thorbjornsen as the pod's guest, teeing up a sitdown with the Tour's newest first-time winner.
It's win No. 1 for Thorbjornsen, but it's not like he snuck up on anybody. He was PGA Tour University's top-ranked player in the Class of 2024 and nearly won as a pro almost immediately, finishing runner-up in just his third start at the 2024 John Deere Classic. He's also the 8th different first-time winner on Tour this season, following Jackson Koivun's breakthrough at the 3M Open just a week earlier — proof the Tour's next generation is elbowing its way into the winner's circle at a pretty rapid clip.
Fore Play didn't just want the swing breakdown, though. The pod also zeroed in on how Thorbjornsen actually gets it done mechanically — with a 10-finger baseball grip that's unusual for a Tour winner, let alone one of the best young players in the game.
The hosts dug into how Thorbjornsen wins with an unconventional 10-finger baseball grip.
Then there's the LEGO stuff, which is somehow the part of the interview getting just as much run online. According to Fore Play, Thorbjornsen's LEGO résumé might rival his golf résumé — a detail that's exactly the kind of oddball personal angle that makes a guy relatable a week after he's hoisting a trophy.
Fore Play dove into the newest PGA Tour winner's surprisingly deep LEGO collection alongside the golf talk.
Full interview's up on Fore Play now if you want the whole thing — win breakdown, the grip, the LEGO sets, all of it. For a guy who was 0-for-2 in runner-up finishes before Sunday, Thorbjornsen picked a hell of a week to finally get one.