The Grind: Justin Thomas' confidence, Stevie Williams' book, Rory McIlroy's cooking, and golfers in Halloween costumes

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we feel older and older with each passing week. Golf Digest's Jaime Diaz recently wrote that the youth movement on the PGA Tour is finally a reality -- and that was before Justin Thomas, 22, became the youngest winner this season. Incredibly, Thomas, with his 43 career tour starts is a grizzled vet compared to 23-year-old rookies Emiliano Grillo and Smylie Kaufman, the tour's previous two winners. We consider ourselves part of golf's youth movement in the media, but it's getting tougher having graduated from high school at least a decade before all of this season's winners. Do these hotshots even know what CDs are?! Anyway, let's grab a warm glass of milk, put our slippers on, and begin our weekly fireside chat.

WE'RE BUYING

Justin Thomas: It looked like another close call for Thomas after a double bogey on No. 14 on Sunday, but he rallied to birdie three of the final four holes to win by one. JT is now a PGA Tour winner, a ladies man, and not just Jordan Spieth's little buddy anymore. Yeah, 2015 has been a pretty good year for this guy:

Gary Player: Forget about all the young whippersnappers for a second. This living legend turned 80 on Sunday and he let the world know he still does 1,300 sit-ups each morning. He also claims to have broken his age in EVERY round of golf he's played this year. Happy birthday, GP. You show these kids who's boss!

Scott Brown on Par 3s: Brown is quickly becoming one of the most prolific hole-in-one makers in tour history. His ace in Malaysia was his fourth on tour in less than a year and a half. Crazy. More importantly, he came away with a sweet ride this time:

Rory McIlroy's cooking: The four-time major champ showed his culinary skills by besting Charl Schwartzel in a pre-tournament cook-off in Turkey. Both players were working with real chefs, but the judge seemed impressed by McIlroy's Mediterranean chicken.

WE'RE SELLING

Rory McIlroy's 2015: Sure, he had that nasty ankle injury, but five months is way too long for this guy to go without winning (a golf tournament, not a cook-off) around the world. On Sunday in Turkey, McIlroy entered the final round just a shot out of the lead, but was the only player in the top 10 to not break 70 (71).

Tiger Woods' timing: Isn't it amazing how we always get news from the Tiger Woods camp on Friday evenings? You know, like right when we're about to leave the office to enjoy the weekend? Thanks, Tiger. In related news, Woods fell to No. 362 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but he strengthened his hold on the top spot on the "semi-secret back surgeries announced late on Friday" list.

Adam Scott's putting woes: No anchoring, no problem. Scott fired a Sunday 63 in Malaysia using his new cross-handed putting stroke to nearly track down Thomas. Needless to say, this was an encouraging performance for the former World No. 1. And his former(?), um, employee was in the news as well. . .

Steve Williams: The longtime caddie released a book chronicling his time working for Tiger Woods. Not surprisingly, the line about having to pick up Woods' discarded clubs, "It was like I was his slave," has drawn a lot of criticism. SI's Michael Bamberger called the book "Trite, superficial and vindictive," and Twitter personality Tweeter Alliss, for one, had a field day with Williams' whining:

Well played, Tweeter.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour continues its Asian swing, moving from Malaysia to Shanghai for the acronym-happy WGC-HSBC Champions. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., those who don't have the miles to fly to Shanghai will be playing in the Sanderson Farms Championship. You know, because everyone is clamoring for even more fall golf.

Related: 15 signs you watch too much golf on TV

Random tournament fact: Forget about this year's Halloween costumes, nothing tops the outfits players put on at this annual event. Never forget 2013:

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

-- Tiger Woods will win a major in 2016: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

-- Tiger will serve "McIlroy's Mediterranean chicken" in his restaurant: 10-to-1 odds

-- I will not do 1,300 sit-ups by the time I'm 80: LOCK

RANDOM PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Presenting Rickie Fowler, fake Rickie Fowler, and David Spade.

Was there any question David Spade would go as pizza rat this year?

SAD PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Courtesy of Golf Digest's Luan Pham, this is what happens when you forget to check your beloved putter at the airport and you're in a hurry to catch your flight:

Luan reported "the owner was literally in tears." Tragic.

DAVIS LOVE III ANIMAL PHOTO OF THE WEEK

It's good to see DL3 has finally moved on from Sammy the Squirrel.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

We're excited to announce Stephen Curry is on the cover of Golf Digest's December issue. And the reigning NBA MVP and world champ was kind enough to shoot this cool video of him playing golf on a basketball court (while being peppered with questions) with us:

PGA TOUR VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

John Peterson doing the Happy Gilmore. In an actual tournament. Watch:

This is the same John Peterson who went hunting in his hotel room with a bidet earlier in the week and who tangled with a gator on the course last year. At 26, he's a bit on the older side, but we're still tagging him a rising star -- at least, on social media.

PROMOTIONAL VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Watch this video (on this site) for potential workers at the Masters and try to tell us you wouldn't feel honored to pour soda for patrons at Augusta National.

THIS WEEK IN NATALIE GULBIS BLAIR O'NEAL MAKING US FEEL BAD WITH HER TRAINING

Isn't it amazing that playing on the monkey bars as a kid was fun, but now it just looks like a grueling workout?

Blair also got into the Halloween spirit by dressing as Minnie Mouse:

THIS WEEK IN PAIGE SPIRANAC BEING PAIGE SPIRANAC

We were a little disappointed by Paige's Halloween effort, especially since she spent plenty of time showcasing different outfits:

But she did work on her short game in a Batman (golf) getup:

THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

For years, we've seen Paulina's proclivity for wearing costumes on full display. Who could forget Paulina's famous "Halloween Hat Trick of 2012"?

But now she's pulled Dustin in.

That's the spirit, DJ!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"So it was obviously unfortunate not to get that number (59), but I'm sure I'll have many more chances in my career." -- Justin Thomas after settling for 61 in the second round of the CIMB Classic. No confidence problems here!

THIS AND THAT

Sei Young Kim won for a third time on the LPGA in 2015. The LPGA rookie is, you guessed it, 22. . . . Duffy Waldorf, 53, won his first Champions Tour event on the final hole with a birdie -- his 26th (a new Champions Tour record for 54 holes) of the week. Glad to see the youth movement hasn't reached the senior circuit yet. . . . Golf Channel "Morning Drive" host Gary Williams completed the New York City Marathon in just over four hours and 30 minutes. No jokes here, that's impressive. . . . Henrik Stenson was the easy winner in a poll asking which European Tour player would make the best James Bond. Stenson then announced he's briefly leaving golf to pursue an acting career. We think he's kidding. . . . And finally, for our first Halloween in the burbs, my wife and I stocked up on candy. The following photo is only about half of what we wound up getting, thanks in part to donations from neighbors of our busy street:

It wasn't enough.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How long would it take Gary Player to run a marathon?

Who will be the next James Bond?

Does anyone in my office have any leftover candy?