'Dis and "Dat

It's late summer and the most important golf is behind us, yet there's still so much to mull over...

TW Unplugged - If I've led with it, you'll know I find it worth your time, though you might be surprised to find that it's not that TW.  I've long considered Tom Weiskopf one of the most interesting people in golf, all the more fascinating because of his recognizable weaknesses.

There's a phenomenon to which I subscribe, namely that the best analysts of a given endeavor rarely come from the greats in the field.   Hence the prevalence of third-string catchers amongst the best baseball managers and the like.  It seems that there needs to be a struggle to fully appreciate the nuances, and while Jack was my original Golf God, I'd rather listen to Tom talk about the game and I'd certainly prefer to play his designs.

For years Weiskopf was part of the CBS team's Masters coverage, and he's been probably the most successful of the players who have turned to architecture.  So please do read this Joe Passov interview with Terrible Tom from Golf Magazine.  Here's Joe's lede:

It isn't easy living down a nickname like the "Towering Inferno," but Tom Weiskopf is getting good at it. The talented, temperamental 1970s PGA Tour star turned course designer is practically giddy this warm June morning as he plays tour guide at the torn-up TPC Scottsdale Stadium course, which he's sprucing up for a November reopening. At the par-5 13th, Weiskopf shows off the new fairway configuration, complete with relocated bunkers. In a patch of grass near the green, he comes upon an outline of orange spray paint that resembles a coffin. "I wanted to build a St. Andrews–style 'Coffin' bunker at this hole," he says, "and I needed to show the [construction] crew what I meant." To demonstrate, Weiskopf lies down on his back, folds his hands and smiles. He's at peace. This is Terrible Tom Weiskopf? The 71-year-old is having more fun than a kid -- a man in his element, completely enamored with the (literally) dirty design process.  

I especially like his thoughts on Muirfield, which are spot on.  And while his role in re-imagining driveable Par-4's is somewhat overstated, it's not like Riviera's tenth wasn't there all along, Jay Morish and he did make a valuable contribution.

Garment Rending, Part LCVIII - We haven't posted on the free-fall that is the game industry of golf in hours, so here goes.  Today's installment is triggered by old standby Dick's Sports, whose Chairman had this to say:

Edward Stack

Edward W. Stack, Dick’s chairman and CEO, didn’t think so. “… As much as we all love golf, the business reality of it is that golf from a retail standpoint is under pressure, and we had to change that labor model to meet the demands and the sales.”

OK, that doesn't sound great....shall we let him continue?

“We got very promotional from a golf standpoint to drive traffic in,” said Mr. Stack, who described the sport as in structural decline. “And we also put together a tent sale where we took some products and put them out in the tent and had a bit of a carnival, if you will, which certainly helped drive traffic into our store.”

Bidness is something I know a little about, especially the screwing up thereof.  The English translation is that they threw a bunch of money at golf, including flooding the airwaves with Golf Channel commercials, and in a forehead slapping moment it turns out that every golfer in America already owned a driver?  Who coulda seen that coming?

Later in the piece it notes that same-store sales at Golf Galaxy were down 9.3% from the comparable quarter the previous year.  That's quite a hit, but without understanding how much was caused by heavy discounting, it's hard to evaluate.  And it's only a quarter of data, so we likely shouldn't over-interpret.  But the folks telling us that the sky is falling are typically revealed to be those with too many TaylorMade drivers to sell....

For what it's worth, a more optimistic take can be found here.

Playoff Fever, Not So Much - Are you consumed by the drama of the FedEx playoffs?  Have you created Excel spreadsheets to constantly analyze the various iterations and permutations created by weekly points resets?  I know, the drama is just too much for the faint of heart....

I'd love to be a fly on the wall at FedEx when their contract with the Tour comes up for renewal, as I can't believe that the promotional sums involved can possibly be justified.  But golf-loving CEO's can obviously overwhelm compliant Boards, although I'd love to see the aforementioned Ed Stack on the FedEx Board, wouldn't you?

While the FedEx Cup no doubt makes Commissioner Ratched's core constituency happy, an $11.44 million payday will have that effect.  But as the coda to an endless season, it's incoherent at best.  No doubt as a lover of the game you'll have noticed that golf and any concept of playoffs is a bad fit, but it's four big-time events with a bucket-load of cash on offer, so the boys will show up.

Remember all those commercials with golfers soliciting advice from football and basketball players about how to prepare for playoffs?  Surely the World No. 1 spared no effort in his prep...right?  Errr....damn those prior commitments:

“I’m not quite on my game. I've not quite put in the time over the last few days for obvious

reasons,” he said on Sky Sports. “I’m going to go and have some lunch and then work on the range, work on a few things, and try to catch up on some practice I’ve missed out on over the last week and try to be ready for tomorrow.”

Yes, seems like the lot of them have been bust with talk show appearances, promotional responsibilities and the like, and their golf is likely to suffer.  

So can't they do that sort of stuff in the off-season?  Perhaps, if there were an off-season, as I'll let Bob Harig explain:

And there is the fact that the golf season never really ends. While the Tour Championship will conclude on Sept 14 in Atlanta -- completing the 2013-14 season -- the Ryder Cup begins on Sept. 26. And the 2014-15 season starts anew on Oct. 9. Golf never gives its fans a chance to miss it.

Harig uses Brandt Snedeker as an example of the demands placed on those in the FedEx Cup hunt and/or under Ryder Cup consideration:

For those at the top of the FedEx Cup standings, they've likely played three huge tournaments in the last five weeks -- the Open Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship. Many also played at the Canadian Open or the Wyndham Championship.

A player such as Brandt Snedeker played them all -- and is now looking at four more, in a row. If he manages to get picked for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, that will be 10 events in 11 weeks in four countries.

This schedule is just nuts, and there's no particular need to have it so compressed.  Rember the good old days when Finchem didn't want to compete with the NFL?  Guys will be playing far too much golf heading into the Ryder Cup, with the only saving grace that both teams will be similarly affected.

Don't Try This At Home - Shack had this video from Vine this morning, though I'm not sure what would make someone think this a good idea:

Speaking, Yet Saying Nothing - Commissioner Ratched took questions in conjunction with the kickoff of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.  Where he took them and what he did with them remains a mystery, as answering them was out of the, you know, question.  Here's his thoughtful take on DJ's personal problems:

Asked if the PGA Tour requires Johnson to address the “personal” issues he alluded to in a statement Finchem said, “we understand his statement and . . . we support his decision to do it and we’ll have no further comment.” 

Just to emphasize that point, when Finchem was asked if Johnson was required to get professional help, the commissioner added: “We have no further comment.”

I'm for one glad that he cleared that matter up to the satisfaction of all.

As for playing opportunities for Web.com qualifiers:

Regarding all the grumbling about how there were fewer playing opportunities than anticipated for some at the end of the Web.com Tour Finals priority list, Finchem said he had some sympathy. Blame it on the success off the wrap-around season, he said. 

“(It) was surprising the number of (PGA Tour) players who played more events in the fall. We’ll see what develops with that. That’s OK. It does put a little bit more pressure on access for the Web.Com tour players coming out.”

I'm not surprised by his disdain for those coming out through the Web.com tour, though I am somewhat taken back that he feels free to express it so openly.   I know this qualifies as a first world problem, but he promised them playing privileges for their indentured servitude, then failed to deliver.  Is it too much to expect him to fix the problem?