Thursday Threads

The storms have moved on, though the skiing remains pretty damn good....  In fact, Bob caught this one yesterday of your favorite blogger throwing himself into a pillow of powder.

Oh well, back to that golf thing....

The Greatest Torrey Ever Told - The event formerly known as The Andy Williams would seem to be a mainstay of the PGA Tour, but this item from the local paper informs that things were grim just a few years ago:

The longtime sponsor, Buick, had abruptly pulled out after its parent company filed for bankruptcy. Four months later, the tournament’s reliable rock star golfer, Woods, exited

the game following a lurid sex scandal. And the Great Recession was still battering the economy. 

While the Torrey Pines tournament secured a new sponsor — Farmers — just days before the 2010 event, what isn’t well known was the PGA Tour’s financial rescue, which included a $1.7 million loan that is still being paid off today. 

“Back then when the world was imploding around us and all these things were happening at once, it kind of exposed the weaknesses within our business model,” acknowledged Brian O’Callaghan, president of the Century Club, the local nonprofit host of the tournament.

OK, so you managed to screw up an event that had everything going for it, including Tiger and Phil showing up every year.  

I have two reactions to this story, one frivolous and one serious...  See if you can guess the first from this excerpt:

By 2015, the Century Club’s net revenues had soared to more than $354,000 compared to a negative $755,000 as of early 2012, according to the organization’s tax returns. But its net balance, after taking into account debt, stood at more than $2.5 million at the end of April, 2015.

I'm going to assume that the San Diego Union-Tribune publishes a business section, and would it have been so difficult to run this 'graph by them.  The author has no clue as to the meaning of revenue, and one is left to guess that she's referring to some measure of profitability.  But it's quite amateurish...

My more substantive point is a long-term concern I've had about the even-handedness of Ponte Vedra's relationship with its host organizations.  At the inception of the FedEx Cup it was obvious to me that the Tour had in effect gone into the business against it's sponsors, promoting events that competed with pre-existing events.

I also remember the gentleman who ran The International, the event at Castle Pines, CO, who couldn't get his phone calls returned...  My sense was that a partnership with the Tour, at least under Commissioner Ratched, was a one-sided affair once the ink dried....

TigerMade - You've no doubt heard the news:

TaylorMade and Tiger Woods jointly announced Wednesday morning that the 14-time major winner signed an endorsement deal with the Carlsbad, Calif., company and will use TaylorMade woods, irons and wedges. 

Woods will use a 2016 TaylorMade M2 driver (Mitsubishi Rayon Tensei White 70X shaft), a 2017 M2 13-degree fairway wood (Tensei White 90X shaft) and a 2017 M1 19-degree fairway wood (Tensei White 90X shaft). He is not expected to start using TaylorMade irons or wedges this week, according to an official with the company, but plans are in the works for Tiger to start developing new irons with Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s senior director of iron development.

OK, I had thought that he'd be irresistible to Bob Parsons, the badass of the equipment business, but what do I know?  After all, according to my predictions Sergio is a six-time Champion Golfer of the Year.

But this, methinks, is expecting far too much:

Instead of selling, might Adidas just hold on to TaylorMade, after a double-digit sales

rise in the second quarter of 2016, and now that it boasts the most famous active golfer on the planet in its portfolio? Adidas still says no. “There are no changes to our plans for TaylorMade,” a spokesperson says.

It might help the company climb back market share, which would make it more attractive to a buyer. And it makes the brand more relevant and will surely give it new exposure, as all eyes are on Woods whenever he competes. The 41-year-old this week said he is “looking forward” to playing at The Masters in April. 

The result could be finally finding a buyer, as Adidas hopes, or a cancellation of that effort.

Who wants to break the news to the writer that it's no longer 2002?  As we've discussed several times, the 2017 Tiger is an interesting get, but the dilemma was in the price tag.  Given his recent history, how confident can one be that he'll even stay healthy, much less contend?  

I'm also finding it interesting how these contracts have involved.  Historically, the TaylorMade staff players have been in Adidas from head-to-toe, making their affiliation clear.  

For now, his contract is strictly an endorsement deal, with price tag not disclosed, for Woods to play in tournaments with TaylorMade woods, irons, wedges, and driver. (He will continue to use the Titleist Scotty Cameron putter.) The deal does not cover apparel; Woods is still a Nike-outfitted athlete. That means you won’t see the TaylorMade logo on his clothes or bag. Down the road, Woods will “co-create with TaylorMade’s club engineers and have an integral role in the design and development of a new, personalized iron model that will make its debut in Tiger’s bag at a future date to be determined.”

So what is the value in this for TaylorMade?  Tiger will still be adorned with swooshes when he appears on TV (same with Jason Day, with whom he'll play the next two days), and he'll be playing his Bridgestone ball and putting with his treasured Scotty....  Color me skeptical....

Walter Travis, Call Your Office - Anyone remember the Schenectady putter?  We'll get to it in a sec, but here's a strange story relating to the admittedly strange Bryson Dechanbeau:

Shortly after noon on the eve of last week's CareerBuilder Challenge in LaQuinta, Calif., DeChambeau was practicing on the putting green when he received a call from a PGA

Tour official informing him that the center-shafted putter which he intended to use in the tournament was deemed non-conforming to the Rules of Golf. 

"They basically threatened him that if he showed up on Thursday, they would DQ him," said Mike Schy, DeChambeau's longtime instructor. "I think they thought he wouldn't have a backup and he'd have to go back to conventional and it would be over. 

"The week before, they made him put lead tape and mark it up," Schy said. "Every week, they've been inspecting it. It's bad. It's really bad. I'm telling you, they do not want him putting this way. For some reason, they think it is an enormous advantage, and it is not."

Let's pack this a bit....  As you likely know, Bryson has been putting side-saddle, which is what Schy means by "this way".  Here's Bryson's take, in which he reminds of Ernie Els:

DeChambeau has been experimenting with the sidesaddle technique, which involves standing and facing his target, for more than three years. He contends that having the face of the club square to the target throughout the stroke is more efficient and repeatable than one that opens and closes. DeChambeau has said that once he commits enough time to practicing his new technique, it will "be like cheating."

Young man, perhaps you're not as bright as we all thought, because you're daring them to address this issue.  

But this further complicates the incident:

DeChambeau, who won the 2015 NCAA championship and the 2016 Dap Championship on the Web.com Tour, submitted several putters for USGA approval, and only one was deemed non-conforming. The USGA would not comment on why the club failed to pass inspection. 

"The circumstances surrounding the club's non-conformance are confidential and between the USGA and Bryson DeChambeau," said USGA spokeswoman Janeen Driscoll, noting such policy was in compliance with its agreement with manufacturers and those who have submitted clubs for approval. Driscoll would confirm only that the putter which DeChambeau used last week in competition was conforming.

 At this point we're left to wonder what's going on here.... was Dechambeau using that one model the USGA deemed non-conforming, r was the PGA not allowing him to use a putter that had the Far Hills seal of approval?  

In his post on this item, Shack indicates that the method of putting has "anchoring elements", but that he's been successful at using it.  I only know that this success notwithstanding, I've not seen the lad recently on TV or a leaderboard.

This Just In, I'm a Hater - In recent days I had the temerity to crack wise about a certain Web.com Tour player, which apparently requires that I be cast out from polite society:

Greg Eason didn't get off to the start to the 2017 Web.com Tour esason he was hoping

for. Battling extreme winds in the Great Exuma Bahamas Classic, Eason shot rounds of 91 and 95 and said after that he lost 32 of the 36 golf balls he began the tournament with. His next event got off to a rough start as well as Eason shot 90 -- including a tour-record 15 on the final hole -- in the first round of the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on Monday. 

But don't be fooled. Eason, a former All-American at UCF, is a great golfer. And he's even better when it comes to persevering on the course. 

On Tuesday, he fired a 68 to pull off the largest turnaround in Web.com Tour history. 

Then he fired back at the haters.

There's a broken link to a Twitter page, so I'm not actually sure about the firing back part....  I'm certainly happy for the man that he found his game, perseverance and all, but what would the evidence be for him as a "great golfer"?

For the record, Greg Eason has a solid track record in two full years as a pro with three top 10s in 50 Web.com Tour starts entering this season. He knew those three rounds were just a blip, but still, that 68 -- and that Tweet -- must have felt really good.

Oh, that's different....  Look, this game has a lot of failure to be absorbed, but posting three straight in the 90's is gonna make one look foolish.  If that makes me a hater, I'll just have to live with that....