Weekend Wrap

The Freestyle World Juniors would down yesterday with the duals, in which a certain blogger's nephew fell in the round of sixteen, though we prefer to think of i as a T9.  A good week for the young man, who now heads to the Nationals at Steamboat Springs next week.

Unleished -  I caught perhaps an hour of NBC's coverage, at that point when Kevin Kisner was acsendant, Charlie Hoffman was fading and Rory was charging.... So, imagine my surprise.... I'll skip the game story, as the more important issue is that which the winner's family has overcome:

Two years ago this month, Leishman was at Augusta National, preparing for the upcoming Masters Tournament, when his wife, Audrey, started experiencing flu-like symptoms. 

She went to an urgent care clinic. When her fever and vomiting progressed to shortness of breath and decreased blood pressure, she was rushed to a hospital. They hooked her up to a ventilator and other machines. The doctors struggled to pinpoint the problem. 

Her conditioned worsened. She could barely stay awake, a side effect of the medications. Eventually, doctors determined she was suffering from toxic shock syndrome, a manifestation of multiple bacterial infections. She had fluid in her lungs. Her organs completely shut down. 

Doctors induced Audrey into a coma. She was given a 5 percent chance to live.

Marc sat with her. He cared for their boys. He cried a lot; he stopped eating; he lost 10 pounds. He certainly didn't play any golf. He felt helpless.

You mean there are things more important than golf?  Gonna have to mull that one over for a while....

Now, we all loved the introduction of the Oh-so-Arnie red cardigan to the winner, and we should all be happy for Clan Leishman.  But that doesn't preclude amusement at the fact that Leishman's body, which has never seen a gym from the inside, and the cardigan are not exactly a match made in heaven:

Ummm, Marc, perhaps a bit too much cleavage?

While Leishman's chances at Augusta shouldn't be dismissed, the Tour Confidential panel chose to instead lead with Rory's chances:

1. The first Arnold Palmer Invitational without Arnold produced the kind of finish the King would have loved. There were eagles and near-aces to go with careless bogeys and worse. Rory McIlroy made a Palmer-like charge on the weekend, but he three-putted the 72nd hole from 31 feet and lost by two. That's a pair of consecutive strong appearances for McIlroy—he tied for seventh in Mexico City and tied for fourth at Bay Hill—but he was in position to win both. Are you encouraged by Rory's play with the Masters looming? Or more concerned that he hasn't closed the deal?

Shane Bacon: You have to be enthused by his play the last two weeks for sure, especially when we didn't even know if he'd be healthy when the Masters rolled around. His three-putt on the 18th might have looked bad, but he had 11-under in his mind and ended up being correct, meaning he had to make that birdie putt to get there. Rory is playing great and it'll be more surprising if he isn't in contention at the Masters than if he is. 

Josh Sens: Agreed, Shane. He was trying to post a number. I'm about as concerned about Rory's ability to close as I am about his financial security.

Kind of a silly question, as his position yesterday pretty much required a petal-to-the-metal approach.  The bigger question is about Rory and the venue, i.e., has he figured out those greens yet....

Lastly, just because the Tour has moved on from Doral doesn't mean that three-irons are safe.... Emiliano Grillo made a mess of the sixth hole, then helicoptered the offending club into the water.... Shack sees him as the successor to Sergio, though he might have missed the funniest little nugget.  With Grillo's third shot still in the air, notice the caddie reaching into the bag for another ball....

A Tour Cancer -  Have you noticed the increasing tendency on Tour for players to leave their ball un-marked if it is in a position to help their playing partner?  I sure have, and so has this guy, though Tour cancer is a tad hyperbolic:

Of course I speak of the peculiar unwritten tour rule that says if you hit a short game shot near the hole and your ball might help a playing partner, you leave the ball down instead of marking. We've spoken to this on ShackHouse and State of the Game, but it's rare to get examples shared on social media. 

I don't like picking on this one involving Zach Johnson at the API because the kneejerk reaction is to focus on the players in on case when this goes on daily. Here Ben An, whose ball provided the back board for Johnson, is providing a service that I struggling seeing Hale Irwin, Lanny Wadkins or Ray Floyd providing.

This was teed up by Zach Johnson's bunker bank shot off Ben An's ball, but Geoff is right to focus the discussion on the general prevalence of this practice.  It's the responsibility of each player to protect the field, which a player is clearly failing to do when he takes actions to potentially help the guy with whom he happens to be paired...

Steiny, Unhinged - Back to our friends at the TC panel, who were queried as follows:

2. Mark Steinberg, the agent for Tiger Woods, took exception to a report saying it was doubtful that his client would tee it up at the Masters. "I couldn't give you a fair assessment," Steinberg told Golf Channel, "but to say it's doubtful is an absolute inaccurate statement." Still, we must ask: Will Tiger play?

Here are a couple of answers that touch on the aspect that interests me:

Shipnuck: I loved how Steiny said he hadn't discussed the Masters with Tiger but he absolutely, positively was sure the report was wrong. I think it's more likely that I'll play in the Masters than Tiger will. 

Bamberger: Mark's response was odd. I imagine the report touched a nerve. Brian Wacker does not traffic in fake news and neither does Golf Digest. He clearly found people who know or observe Tiger who think there's nothing about the state of his game that suggests he's going to play the Masters. As for whether Tiger plays or not, I am completely content to wait for Thursday, April 6, to find out. I've got other things to occupy me.

Yeah, he obviously did touch a nerve, but why?  Given that there hasn't been a single statement from team Tiger about his condition since Steiny told us in Dubai that it was just spasms, did he think the golf world would just wait for his next pronouncement from on high?  They've always encouraged the Jesper Parnevik's of the world to talk about Tiger's game in advance of comebacks, but now they expect complete radio silence...  Kind of pathetic and insulting, no?  Especially when all they're offering are platitudes and misdirections.... 

And if you believe that Tiger and Steiny haven't discussed the Masters, could I interest you in some swampland?

Golf and Government - Two things that one would hope would stay as far apart as possible....  I've not spent much time on the issue of municipal golf courses, specifically those of historical import.  Shack certainly has, most notably Sharp Park, Goat Hills and Lion's Muni.... Now Jaime Diaz is on the case as well:

So when a muny, especially one with history in a big city, gets threatened, even the most escapist golfers can be roused. Instead of complaining about the greens and the drainage

and range mats, they realize how much they’d miss the $30 green fee and all the camaraderie if it disappeared. They become attuned to how munys are about affordability and accessibility and diversity and being the best entry point for beginners and especially kids. Basically the spirit of St. Andrews. It’s a good exercise, especially if it translates to the kind of activism a beset muny needs to stay alive. 

Last month, the golfers of Sharp Park G.C. in Pacifica, Calif.—along with all the muny devotees following the battle for the survival of the worn but beautiful Alistair MacKenzie creation against environmentalists—were able to celebrate. By a 9 to 1 vote, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors certified an environmental impact report favorable to the continuing operation of the linksy 85-year-old layout set next to the Pacific Ocean by the city of San Francisco. The plan approved the modification of three holes for the purpose of enhancing the habitat for the endangered San Francisco garter snake and the protected California red-legged frog. Most important, the document formally validated long-overlooked Sharp Park as a historic resource in a city full of them.

OK, I'm very conflicted about this issue....  But before I go into that, another lengthy excerpt on the two other examples:

At Lions Municipal G.C. in Austin, where the University of Texas regents have contemplated not renewing in 2019 the city’s lease for the 141-acre course, which has served golfers including Harvey Penick and Tom Kite since 1934. Instead, the regents would convert the land into a major commercial and residential development. But the most famous player to grow up on the course, Ben Crenshaw, is passionately engaged in a proposal that would restore the original routing and build a new clubhouse and driving range. The plan has a better chance since the course was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the site of an important act of desegregation in 1950 when two African-American youths were allowed to play. 

Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, Calif., is a scruffy patch of hilly land where apparel designer John Ashworth played high-school matches. In 2014, he mobilized to save the 64-year-old course from being turned into soccer fields by taking over the lease from the city and pledged $3.6 million in private funds—raised from sources including Bill Murray, Mark Wahlberg and Kelly Slater—to completely renovate the course. Goat Hill is now an admirable model of sustainable golf, with a new irrigation system using recycled water to serve a 4,800-yard par 65, and a California casual vibe that features audible music and no dress code. “Our place is about fun golf, and especially for a beginner to really feel the game for the first time,” Ashworth says. “All of us who are fighting for munys support each other, and know that whenever a project like this succeeds, it helps public golf everywhere.”

It's very important for our game to save these sites, it's just not the role of government to do so....  Admittedly, it gets very complicated, because sometimes government is the only mechanism available, as well as the fact that opponents of the current use are using government, specifically the environmental regulators, to close golf courses...

This is perhaps a subject to which we should return at another time, as it demands more thought than is availble from your humble blogger at present.   But Geoff makes a point that I'll paraphrase.... Would all of the money directed into The First Tee and USGA/PGA PSA's be better redirected to preserving such sites?  

But another item highlights some of the frustrations in dealing with government, this time as relates to The World Golf Hall of fame:

But while they agreed to eliminate tax credit programs for everything from the state's job recruitment agency to sports stadiums, they carved out an exception for what is

considered the worst tax incentive of all. 

Tucked on page 65 of a 187-page bill is a clause that continues to award $2 million in annual tax credits to the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine for the next six years. Even in their analysis to members, House Republicans called the museum the single worst bet the state is making with tax credits.

Wait, it gets funnier....  The author of the bill is named Paul Renner, and his district includes the Hall:

When asked why the tax credit was left alone, Renner replied: "I don't know."

In a subsequent interview with the Times/Herald, Renner said the House did not want to disrupt existing deals with museums.

OK, perhaps funny isn't exactly the right term....  But government is a blunt force instrument, and that which you do today will likely never go away.... 

As a sport, golf needs to support itself independent of government, because government only takes care of itself....

March Madness -  It's Match Play week, and the TC panelists were asked to identify their dream Final Four:

Ritter: Sign me up for a semifinal of two Ryder Cup rematches: Rory-Reed and Phil-Sergio.

Bamberger: Oh, that's good, Jeff. But I'm gonna tweak it, Texas-style: Reed-Spieth, Phil-Sergio (and a Reed-Sergio final). I also like Sergio to win the Masters this year, when he least expects it.

Sergio to win at Augusta?  I don't know what Mike's smoking, but I hope he brought enough to share....