Go Aussie!

It's Australia Day here at Unplayable Lies.... Don your Speedo and let's have at it...

The Open - A while back the Tour Confidential panel was asked which worldwide events deserved consideration to become a major, and the Aussie Open generated a fair amount of respect.  The evnt is played at strong venues (Royals Melbourne and Sydney come to mind) and equally strong fields, Nicklaus used to make the trek and Spieth is there this week to defend, despite his announced intention to renounce his frequent flier miles.

Shack had a good preview the other day, including linking to this John Huggan piece.  This little grab highlights the best of the pairings:

"You can always learn a lot, the way Jordan gets around a course,” says Ogilvy, who, along with US Amateur champion Curtis Luck, will partner Spieth in the opening two rounds here. “More than anyone, he seems to always sign for one or two (shots) less than you think he maybe should have. Every day. That's always the sign of a great player. Tiger was like that; he always seemed to sign for five less than he should have. Jordan's one of those guys who gets the best out of his round almost every time you play with him. That's something we can all observe and get something out of.”

Here's the video of Jordan's typically thoughtful presser:

Shack's got the video of the object of my mancrush, Geoff Ogilvy, but also enjoy the drone shots from this interview with course superintendent Steve Marsden:

This event, along with the entire Aussie swing, has been hurt by the senseless expansion of the U.S. Tour's schedule.  Jack came here annually for a reason, but Commissioner Ratched's attempt to bestride the planet will result in fewer modern players doing so, a shame to this observer.

The Norman Conquests - Fresh off his successful attempt to "redirect" his business by removing his prized nickname, Greg Norman is back with a plaintiff cry for relevance.  The man just can't get any attention...

And what could be more relevant that Newsweek Magazine, with it's Norman Rockwell images of rural Americans waiting for their weekly magazine to be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service to inform them of that which they need to know of the world beyond their horizon.  And Newsweek is just perfect, because....well, this was their assessment of the state of play around this time in 2008:

How's that all working out?  And the Blackberry President, which I hadn't even noticed at the time, is just comedy gold....

So Newsweek gave The Shark some subprime real estate, and hilarity ensured.  Care to go for an old-fashioned Fisking?

I personally had a sense of this and told Donald, when President Barack Obama was campaigning for Hillary Clinton 10 days before the election, that he was going to win. Obama’smessaging was wrong and just reinforced that those wanting change would get it with Clinton. In other words, the problem was not the problem—the attitude to the problem was the problem.

Let's see if I have this straight....  The problem is or wasn't the problem, it's the attitude to the problem that's....what's the word, problematic?  Do go on....

Then finally on the night of the election, around 10:30 p.m. when I returned from dinner in Mexico, I could see the momentum building for Trump. I turned the lights out knowing he would be the president-elect the following morning.

Got that?  The purpose of this 'graph seems to be to share the venue for his dinner, as well as that vague, connect-the-dots hint that he ain't flying commercial.  Kinda reminds of Sky Masterson whisking Sarah Brown off to dinner in Havana, though that had the benefit of being, you know, fiction....

I have spoken to Donald on numerous occasions since the election and I think he will surprise many with what he will do with the presidency, but not himself. He has a clear vision. I believe he will fill a cabinet with quality, experienced, doers that are like-minded yet strong enough to redirect him if they so believe. I also believe Vice President-elect Mike Pence will be a tremendous asset. Together, with Speaker Paul Ryan, the House and the Senate, all will ensure that he does what he says and “be a leader for all Americans.” 

A Trump presidency obviously not only affects the United States, but the rest of the world. Foreign policy will be a tricky one for Trump. I can only imagine that there are so many grandfathered agreements in place from previous administrations in the U.S. and abroad. Until he gets in there to understand those, from NATO to NAFTA to TPT to Middle East agreements to the Asia Pacific rim and many others, it is difficult to speculate.

As long as he's not filling binders, because we know now that's wrong.   And that use of "Numerous"?  And the firm grasp of acronyms and geographic regions is quite the demonstration of knowledge..... perhaps knowledge of the functionality of Google, but still....

OK, so that's just a boatload of nonsense... I know when I need insight into the prevailing mood in the U.S. heartland, an Australian expat living in Florida is my go-to guy.  But then, in this Daily Telegraph piece he brags about providing The Donald's telephone number to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.  Yeah, how does the planet turn on its axis without Greg calibrating it every morning?

Prayers answered, as the Aussie PM was asked about this, and...well, I have it on good authority that Greg Norman is a great Australian:

JOURNALIST:

Prime Minister, there was a story in the Daily Telegraph this morning that Greg Norman, the golfer actually gave you the personal number for Donald Trump. Is this true? 

PRIME MINISTER:

Greg Norman is a great Australian. He is a great advocate for strengthening the Australian-American alliance. One of our greatest assets, you know, is the more than million Australians who live overseas and Greg is one of them and he has been a great help. He is an example of what I've often said about the relationship between Australia and the United States. It depends, sure it depends on good relations between leaders and ministers and so forth but above all it is based on millions of people-to-people links, millions of people who are committed to strong ties. Greg is one of those and he's a great Australian and very committed to a very strong relationship. He wants Australia to succeed, America to succeed and, if we both succeed, that'll be good for the world too. 

JOURNALIST:

Prime Minister, why didn't your office have Mr Trump's number before the election? 

PRIME MINISTER:

I'm not going to - in diplomacy and politics, you use lots of networks. All I can say is we have great networks, great connections and Greg Norman is a great Australian.

JOURNALIST:

Was it because you thought Hillary Clinton was going to win?

We all did....  that's why it's so much fun.   

You know what's also fun about this story?  Our President Elect seems to have a fondness for bare-chested men:

Not that there's anything wrong with that....

Ch-Ch-Changes - Jason Sobel had a cute lede in his item on players embracing changes in the golf world:

It would be a little too clichéd to open a column about changing times by quoting Bob Dylan, but hey, those words helped win him a Nobel Peace in literature, which I believe is like a FedEx Cup trophy to the rest of the non-golf world.

Not so much, Jason, as the Nobel Prize in Literature still means something, at leats to everyone except Mr. Dylan.  But go on:

"Is it needed? I don't have any idea. I would probably say no," Zach Johnson explained. "But can it be a positive in the long run? Absolutely. To add something to a product that's already tremendous and make it better -- whether it's lights, dates, formats -- I'm all for it. If it can help the game, if it helps fans of the game and makes us players hungrier to play more, sure. I see no issues with it. 

"It's a trial and error process," added Jim Furyk. "If it's good and the fans like it and the sponsor likes it and the players like it, heck yeah, let's go. Let's keep doing it. If it doesn't work, we'll come up with some new ideas. There's nothing wrong with trying."

Zach is of course wrong, but at least he's open to the concept of making it better.  But I'm guessing that the guys will have fun playing with a partner, and that fun will be contagious.

Prayers Answered, Part II - Star of stage, screen and open bar, Diana Murphy has been elected to another term as USGA Prez:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

DIANA MURPHY NOMINATED FOR SECOND TERM AS USGA PRESIDENT 

FAR HILLS, N.J. (Nov. 16, 2016) – Diana Murphy has been nominated to serve a second one-year term as the 64th president of the United States Golf Association by the USGA Nominating Committee, as the organization prepares for its 123rd year of service to the game of golf.

So, if slurring your way through an awards ceremony and being unable to think of anything to say about Jack Nicklaus doesn't get one fired, what would? 

Bethany Lang was unavailable for comment.

I've got more, but it will have to keep until tomorrow.