Loose Ends

The good news is that the Biblical rains have ended and our tenth green is no longer an island green.  The bad news is that 4.5 inches of rain needs to go somewhere... though our super was reasonably optimistic that the course would open for walkers tomorrow.

So I hear you asking what's new...

Be Like Mig - Everyone loves the Most Interesting Man in Golf, especially the ladies.  So much so that they're copying his stretching routine, as per the video below with Belen Mozo and Beatrice Recari.

Not sure about anyone else, but to me it's just not the same without the cigar.  But can someone explain how this differs from twerking?

A Little Early for This - Keely Levins has the long-term forecast for Pinehurst, but leads with this credibility-building set-up:

Back in February we talked to Gary Lezak, chief meteorologist for NBC's Kansas City TV affiliate and creator of Weather2020, a forecasting app that boasts the ability to predict the weather upwards of three months in advance. 

Lezak was promoting his product touting what his models told him would be the weather conditions in Augusta, Ga., 12 weeks ahead of the Masters. His prediction: Rain during the practice rounds, with the weather clearing as the tournament rounds began.

And, well … he was right. After torrential rain washed out Monday's practice round at Augusta, the tournament proper was played under sunny skies.

And for the back-to-Back Opens:

During the early part of the week at the men's Open, there's going to be some thunderstorms and two to three rounds of rain. A cold front could move in before the tournament starts, but once the weekend rolls around, the temperature will be higher than usual, and it will be quite humid. In total, there will be 1-2 inches of rain that week.

The women's Open isn't looking as wet. There could be one or two smaller periods of rain. Overall, it's going to be warm and humid.

The course drains extremely well, but two inches isn't nothing.  Let's hope he's a one-off seer, and we get two weeks of dry breezy weather, so we can see the course as the Real Donald intended it.

Three-Sport Star - These crazy kids, what will they think of next?  Did you ever think you wanted to see a guy hit a football through a basketball hoop with a golf club?  Of course you did, isn't that why you read this blog?

Just Another OSHA Claim - Stuff happens out there, doesn't it?  get this from this morning at Quail Hollow:

Chesson Hadley played the final nine holes with a twisted putter after his caddie tripped over some television cables and fell walking to the 10th tee Thursday at the Wells Fargo Championship. 

“I went down like a sack of potatoes,” said Josh Svendsen, Hadley’s caddie. "There were some television cables there that weren't quite buried." 

Svendsen went down chest first onto some pavement, with Hadley’s golf bag upending and crashing to the ground. The putter was among the clubs inside the bag. Hadley didn’t notice the twisted putter until he pulled it out before putting for eagle from the fringe on the 10th green. The putter head was noticeably twisted, or bent open.

Reminds me of when Stevie lost his grip on one of Tiger's clubs why dipping it into the water...Oops!  Here's video of the incident:

Hadley shot 3-over 75 for the day, though his difficulties were mostly on the front nine.

Taken For a Ride - Lydia spent Tuesday morning with the Golf Channel Morning Drive crew, the video of which can be seen here.  She has amazing presence for a child, though the driving lesson could do with some editing.

And do also read this Shackelford post that includes a thank-you note Lydia wrote to a Pro-Am partner.  But don't beat yourself up for enjoying the gratuitous Vijay poke...after all, you're only human.

Back To Broadie - I've long intended to return to the sleep-inducing subject of golf's statistical revolution, but Luke Kerr-Dineen beats me to it.  Here's the premise of his post:

The British Open returns to Hoylake this July, but since undergoing back surgery in March, Tiger Woods remains a major doubt. As usual, information coming out of his camp has been sparing, but if a recent report form Golf Channel is to believed, it's this year's third major that Tiger is targeting. 

Here's why that would be a good idea:

As per the title of his post, that why can be readily divined from this one chart:

Here's K-D's explanation of the chart:

That chart was featured as part of Columbia University Professor Lucius Riccio's presentation at the 2014 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. It may look slightly complicated, but it's really not. The chart measures how close to the hole Tiger Woods hits his irons shots (the red line) compared to the tour average (the green line).

The lines slope downwards because the farther away from the hole you are, the harder it is to hit your ball close to the hole. Ideally, you'd like to hit your 4-iron as close to the hole as your pitching wedge, so the key is to try to have as flat a line as possible. 

As you can see, Tiger Woods's regression line is pretty flat -- Justin Rose has the best, but Tiger's isn't far away. And that's backed up by the raw numbers; as David Barrett describes in his Golf World ShotLink article in January, Tiger Woods gained more strokes on the field with his approach shots (1.64) than anyone else on the PGA Tour last year. Tiger also gained more than 2.02 strokes on the field from tee to green in 2013 -- more than anyone but Justin Rose -- despite ranking 92nd on tour in Strokes Gained/Driving.

I'm sure everyone remembers this discussion, but if you need a tutorial start here.  As we discussed then, Tiger remians a superior ball striker, picking up strokes on the firled from tee-to-green (at least per 2013 stats).  But like me, what's this got to do with Hoylake?

Now, cast your mind back to 2006, when Tiger disassembled Royal Liverpool more tactically, more meticulously, and more craftily than perhaps any other champion in the tournament's history. 

Tiger Woods won the claret jug hitting more than 85 percent of his fairways (the best in the field), more than 80 percent of his greens (the second best in the field), and only hit one driver all week. It didn't particularly matter that he finished the week 53rd in Driving Distance and T-31st in Overall Putting Average. 

As it did in 2006, Royal Liverpool, which will be set up almost identically to how it was before, will allow Tiger to exploit his strengths and neutralize his weaknesses perhaps more than any other major venue in recent years. And there's the added bonus that not hitting drivers will be easier on Tiger's increasingly frail body.

Ummm Luke, I think you're making quite the hidden assumption here.  Take a look at this gif of Tiger's fairway hole-out:

Do you see how brown the golf course was in 2006?  It was an unusually dry summer and the course was baked hardpan.  Tiger hit irons off so many of the tees because it was the only way to ensure that his ball didn't run into trouble, such as the gaping fairway bunkers visible in the gif.  

The R&A has told us that there haven't been substantial changes to the course, with the exception of the new 1st green.  But that's quite different from the course playing the same, which is highly unlikely.  

Why Not? - Cameron Morfit has jumped on the David Duval bandwagon, in a piece in this weeks SIG+G found here.  The gist of Morfit's case is that Duval has worked hard to rebuild his game, lost 30 pounds and  at least part of his fall from grace was the result of an endless stream of injuries.  Duval has announced that if he doesn't regain playing privileges this year he intends to move on with his life, which like Morfit I find compelling.

While sponsors are free to use their exemptions as they see fit, I find myself agreeing that he's a worthy recipient.  Of course the problem is that there are many worthy candidates, but I've no objection to any exemptions made available to him.  And I'd consider it win-win if those exxemptions were denied to John Daly.

Amen, Brother - Shackelford commends Rex Hoggard for a strong week of work, but does recommend a food taster at the TPC buffet.  Hoggard first reported on the condition of the greens at Sawgrass here, but today's effort is a clear violation of the Tour's strictly-enforced Omertà:

The PGA Tour will claim that its policy concerning crime and punishment is very straightforward. That the long-standing practice of “Go ahead and ask, we won’t tell” when it comes to disciplinary actions is, by definition, as transparent as it gets.

Hoggard uses the tweets of Steve Elkington as a counterpoint to the Donald Sterling comments, and concludes as follows:

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has repeatedly stated that the Tour is, on balance, a respectable lot of rule followers, and more than 15 years covering the circuit leads me to agree. But to think every player who plays for pay is enlightened is misguided. 

Maybe if the Tour took a public and pointed stand last July following his offensive tweet about Pakistanis, Elkington would have kept his comments about Sam to himself. It likely wouldn't have changed his outlook on the world, but it would have kept his finger off the “tweet” button, and that’s a start. 

On Tuesday, Silver pulled no punches or veils. There was no cloak of secrecy or the ambiguous undertones of tacit indifference, just the harsh reality that Sterling and his raciest ideals aren’t welcome in the NBA. 

That’s why transparency works, and why the Tour’s policy doesn't.

Signs -  I've always loved signs and take many pictures thereof in our travels.  Those of you with me during our stay in Ballyliffin might remember this post of some favorites, and newbies might find a chuckle or two there.  James Corrigan makes an invaluable addition to my collection with this offering from the Eastlake Golf Club in Sydney:

How are we ever going to grow the game if they discourage reasonable attire?