Late-Week Logorrhea

Actually, I'm going to try to keep this short....we'll see how that plays out.

Wait, he Had Friends? - I was never a big fan, though I like him more after seeing how he handled his defenestration....  the subject is former PGA of America Prez Ted Bishop, who is out with a book on his experiences of the last few years titled Unfriended.  A great title for these times no doubt, and Shack landed the man for a Q&A, one that indicated that the book might be about more than score-settling:

GS: The account of the 2014 Ryder Cup is particularly interesting and puts the U.S. 

performance in good perspective. You also detail the beginnings of the Task Force concept, but now in hindsight you think it was unnecessary?

TB: The Ryder Cup Task Force was absolutely necessary. We had to change our approach and it obviously paid off with a U.S. victory this year. PGA Tour players are A-3 members of the PGA of America and they deserved a greater voice when it came to the Ryder Cup. That being said, I will always defend the PGA of America on its choice of past Ryder Cup Captains. However, Larry Nelson and Hale Irwin are certainly glaring omissions from several decades ago.

That first bit seems quite the trick, no?  This about the PGA seems believable:

GS: Did the PGA Of America attempt to stop the book from being published?

TB: The PGA made it difficult to write and publish my book. Ultimately, I had to seek the services of Levine, Koch, Sullivan & Schulz, one of the top First Amendment firms in the U.S. My lawyers determined that I had not violated any of my confidentiality or fiduciary duties to the PGA. That allowed me to press on with the book. I was fortunate that Classics of Golf publishing stuck with me through the PGA threats. In the end, I allowed the PGA to preview the book before it was published. In my opinion, that validates the integrity of the content in Unfriended.

And, given Ted's firing offense, this question was inevitable:

GS: You dealt with Donald Trump quite a bit during your tenure as President and speak highly of the interactions you had with him. What should the USGA and PGA of America do, if anything, with regard to events hosted at his courses? I was disappointed when the PGA chose not to play the Grand Slam at Trump LA. At the time, I thought that was a mistake.

TB: It has been surprising to me that more of the media are not asking the PGA questions about the 2017 Senior PGA at Trump D.C. and the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster in 2022 given his past comments that are certainly degrading to women. As the guy who was exiled from the PGA for calling Poulter a 'lil girl, I have been surprised that the PGA has softened its stance on political correctness with Mr. Trump.

But, like Mr. Trump, we have all done things or said things that we certainly would not want the public to know about. Trump has great courses and is a great host- so I say play on!

The comparisons are pretty silly, no?  My feeling at the time was that Ted was extremely foolish, but I had no problem with the firing if it was because he picked a fight on Twitter.  That's beneath the dignity of the office he held, and I've no problem with there being consequences....

But to fire him for the misogyny inherent in calling Poults a little girls is beyond silly, for a couple of obvious reasons:

1. That's just the way men talk and have always talked, and Ted had a longstanding record of being supportive of the game;
2. Poulter is, in fact, a little girl.

Truth should be the ultimate defense... and my only hesitation is that the truth was used to defend Sir Nick.

Jordan, Loyal - The young man can putt, but I don't want him negotiating anything on my behalf:

When Nike announced it's getting out of the golf equipment business, Spieth said that

caught many people off guard. "That was a bit of a shock when that came down," he said. However, Spieth said his PGA tour colleagues sponsored by Nike, most notably, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, enjoy the flexibility of playing with what they want. Spieth says they frequently talk shop to each other about the different equipment brands and clubs.

Despite that, Spieth has no plans to give up playing with his Titleist clubs. "I have played Titleist my whole life, so I just trust it," he said. Acushnet, which owns Titleist, had an IPO this month. Spieth said he didn't get any stock with the offering but he imagines he'll be a shareholder at some point. 

"In golf trusting what you are wearing and playing with is first and foremost so you don't have to worry about anything but your game."

Folks are playing this in reverse at 33 1/3 rpm and can make out Jordan saying that Under Armour has no plans to go into the equipment business.

This guy also tipped that:

Under Armour Founder Kevin Plank says his company will not expand into golf

equipment, despite a void left by Nike's departure from the club and ball-making business. 

Speaking at the Fast Company Innovation Festival, Plank explained the company's rationale, pointing to a "really tough, highly regulated" industry. 

"There are not a lot of things you are allowed to do from an innovation standpoint," Plank said. "It's not a very large market and the margins aren't great, so business-wise, there are not a lot of reasons to do it."

 Let's see, Adidas is getting out of equipment but staying in golf shoes and apparel, Nike is out of hard goods but staying in soft, and Acushnet went public way below their target price.  I'm guessing that Mr. Plank is not an idiot....

Rory, Unplugged - First Rory took a bunch of heat over his WD from the Turkish Airlines Open:

Despite the understandable concerns, Turkish Golf Federation president Ahmet Agaoglu criticized McIlroy’s decision. 

“For those who worry about such things, there is no safe place in the world,” Agaoglu told Golf Digest. “I do not see pulling out of events as the right approach to take. I was a little bit surprised and disappointed to learn that Rory was pulling out in the media. He did not contact me.” 

Agaoglu noted that extra security measures are being taken this week to ensure the safety of the players and everyone involved with the tournament. 

“Antalya is one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world,” Agaoglu said. “Not one person has ever been killed or injured by any terrorist attack (here). This is the safest city, hotel and golf course in the country.”

Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?  There was also some pushback from players, most notably Lee Westwood.  The interesting part of this is that in the midst of a debate over Trump's involvement in golf, is it unreasonable to ask whether players should go to Turkey?  What the press wants to label a failed coup seems to this observer to an highly successful purge.... Martha Burke could not be reached for comment.

 And the lad had more in the No Laying Up podcast:

But one of his most interesting answers may have been about his bemusement at how 

Seems like the players figured out the celebration thing.

American fans reacted after the U.S. clinched its first Ryder Cup win in eight years. 

“It seemed like once they won, the whole place kind of went quiet,” McIlroy told No Laying Up’s Chris Solomon. “It was weird. And that’s why I was the one celebrating, I was like ‘U.S.A.!’ ” 

McIlroy noted it was especially bizarre considering how rowdy the U.S. crowds had been all week. 

“(It was like) go and chant the way you’ve been chanting the last few days,” McIlroy said. “Your team just won. Then all of a sudden they go quiet. We (the Europeans) didn’t understand it.”

That's pretty simple....they were in shock.

 And then he felt the need to show his golf architecture chops:

The first came on the possible lengthening of Augusta National’s par-5 13th, a hot-button issue that has sowed much discontent. But McIlroy is actually a fan of the idea.

“I know a lot of longer(-hitting) guys don’t like to hit driver off that tee anyway. And it’s not much of a par 5 if you can’t hit driver off the tee,” McIlroy said. “So lengthening 13 and making it where guys are having to go in there with a long iron again is something that would be cool to see.”

I think it's too severe a dogleg to lengthen significantly....  Oh, and just a minor point, it's pretty much a perfect golf hole as is.

It's Back -  And apparently better than ever:

The Major League Baseball season wrapped up with Wednesday night's thrilling Game 7 of the World Series, but on Thursday, attention turned to another big league ballpark

. This time, for reasons that had little to do with America's pastime.

Instead, stadium golf is back with the return of the Links at Petco Park. And the joint venture between Callaway Golf and the San Diego Padres looks even cooler than last year's inaugural edition. Here's Callaway's Amanda Balionis talked with our Geoff Shackelford about some of the improvements to this year's course, including themed holes, four different levels of tee boxes, and an "island green":

Some things are just fun.... and guess who had design input?

Just remember, it's not really a proper links....

Taking One For The Team - You guys know how I feel about John Daly....  Exactly, so I won't be watching the new "30 For 30" film on him...  No need, I read the book.

Josh Sens alleges that there are Nine Amazing Facts to be found in the film, and....well, let's get this over with quickly and then I'll need a shower:

4. How He Got Hooked on Cigarettes

Daly blames his cigarette habit on Steve Loy, his college golf coach at Arkansas (who went on to become Phil Mickelson's agent), who, Long John says, suggested that Daly take up smoking to help lose weight.

And this one is TMI.  Way, way too much:

6. He's Soft at Heart, but Hard on the Eyes

As Daly sees it, he's “too ugly” for women to be naturally drawn to him. On the other hand, he says, “I love pleasing them.”

Ick!  I need that shower, STAT!

Cheap Shots -  Just a couple of gnats to shoo-fly away:

The Worst Appeal to Authority Evah - Snoop Dog on Golf sans Tiger:

"The sport of golf is garbage without him," Snoop said. "Nobody watches it, the ratings went down — it ain't fly as it used to be. He was the flavor. I mean, he was the seasoning salt. It's just like some shake-and-bake chicken now."

 Not Fly.  Got it.

Not Fly But Also Not Sad - Justice prevails! Matt Kuchar winds up getting a car for making that hole-in-one in Shanghai

David Owen's Trunk Is Fly:

Because we cover the tough stories, you might wonder what exactly fly means.  We're here for you:

According to the Urban Dictionary, the top definition is:

cool, in style

He was drivin some fly ass car

OK, and I'm guessing that fly ass is a higher order of magnitude fly....  But I'll leave the reader to determine the relative flyness of this:

Cann you see why Tiger's college nickname was Urkel?