Bonus Friday Content - Zurich Zaniness

A delightful morning at the new place, where it finally seems like Spring.  Tomorrow is out opening day event, so it's all real...

All of a sudden everyone's on the band wagon, but where were they when it was wall-to-wall 72-hole stroke play?

NEW ORLEANS — The first round of the Zurich Classic marked a dramatic break from tradition on the PGA Tour, and thank goodness. Instead of just another boring 72-hole

stroke play event we were treated to team play for the first time on Tour since the Walt Disney World National Team Championship in 1981. Even juicier was that, rather than the best-ball format that will be used on Friday and Sunday, the first round (as will the third) featured the quirky, uncomfortable and rarely used alternate-shot format, which demands both teamwork and empathy. Noting how bad it feels to let down your partner, Geoff Ogilvy called alternate shot "a four-hour guilt-trip." No wonder it hasn't made an appearance on Tour since the 1934 Pinehurst Pro-Pro.

Anyone know what's in the water at Golf Magazine these days, as that "break with tradition" is pretty rich.  There's a long history of team events on Tour, in fact one of the events in Byron Nelson's epic 1945 win streak was a team event and, at my first Met. Golf Writers event, Dave Anderson told us that the first golf event he covered was the Miami Fourball at Wykagyl.  

Here's some good stuff on how they paired up and team unis:

This shotgun marriage was atypical in a field that is defined by relationships. Among the 80 teams are those who have enjoyed Ryder Cup success (Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson), Presidents Cup success (Louis Oosthuizen/Branden Grace), sprang from the same lions (Brooks & Chase Koepka), have the same mental coach (Kevin Streelman/Russell Knox), were roommates at a long-ago European tour Q school (Daniel Berger/Thomas Pieters), and share alma maters (too many to list, but LSU boys John Peterson and Andrew Loupe are the local favorites.) Jordan Spieth is here only because his participation in the Zurich was the stakes in a match he lost to Ryan Palmer's caddie James Edmondson, a renowned shark who played college golf at Houston. The team spirit was on display across TPC Louisiana. Keegan Bradely and Brendan Steele both wore all-gray ensembles with black hats, Blixt and Smith were visions in red and white and Spieth and Palmer went with gray and blue. Oosthuizen and Grace matched perfectly in white pants and baby-blue shirts. "It looks good, right?" King Louis asked, desperately seeking validation. "We're here as a team so we want to look that way."

It looks fine, Louis.  Although there are always dissenters:

So does that mean Billy Horschel will be pressing octopi on his partner Matt Every as the tournament wears on? 

"No way," Horschel said. "That is so…well, I can't say the word." 

"Clown stuff," said Jason Dufner, helpfully. He has been mentoring his partner Patton Kizzire ever since he was an undergrad at Auburn, Duf's beloved alma mater. But clearly they won't be breaking out any War Eagle attire in the coming rounds.

I think we can all agree that Billy should never offer his opinion on any other player's outfit.

There's more strategy in alternate shot, but it doesn't happen in front of the camera:

Of more pressing concern was how each team mixed and matched their golf ball. Jason Day plays a high-spin Nike and, given the occasionally breezy conditions, felt it was prudent to play all 18 holes with Rickie Fowler's lower-spinning Titleist. "For him to change to my ball," said Day,"would have been a pretty drastic move, especially trying to keep it down." 

Other teams swapped out their balls on every hole; whichever player was hitting the tee shot would use his own ball and their partner would have to adjust to it on the ensuing shot. Thus Russell Knox employed his Srixon and Kevin Streelman his Titleist. "It wasn't as great as my Srixon golf ball," Knox said, pumping a fist at the plug for his sponsor,"but you can't blame that [for a 73]." Luke Donald plays a Pro V1x while his partner Jamie Lovemark uses a higher-spinning Pro V1, and Donald noted that his playing partner felt his wedge game was off "by a few yards" because of the difference.

And this underrated decision:

Another interesting bit of strategy was choosing which player would tee off on the odd holes and which would take the evens. Brooks Koepka felt his towering irons would be more of an asset on the odd-numbered holes, which featured three brawny par-3s. Since they began on the back nine, that meant his baby brother had to hit the opening tee shot in his PGA Tour debut. Chase, a 23 year-old who has been toiling on the Challenge tour in Europe, smoked a good one, and the Koepka bros went on to shoot 69. "I don't know if people thought I was brining some random dude," said Brooks,"but he's a really good player."

And perhaps word will go out that there's a new sheriff in town:

It didn't come out until Friday that the PGA Tour handed out its first slow-play penalty in 

Campbell

more than two decades during the first round at TPC Louisiana. And in the spirit of the tour's first official team event since 1981, it was a true team effort. 

The Miguel Angel Carballo/Brian Campbell pairing were penalized a shot in their opening round. As alternates, Campbell, a rookie, and Carballo were paired together for the event and were the final group to tee off on Thursday morning, with PGA section pros Kyle Ramey and Phil Schmitt. The group was first put on the clock on the 10th hole, with one of the section pros receiving a bad time on No. 11 at TPC Louisiana. One hole later, Carballo took more than the allotted 40 seconds to play his shot and received a bad time, with Carballo and Campbell being warned that another bad time would result in a penalty. Campbell then got a bad time on the 14th hole.

What, they couldn't find a 14-year old?  It is harsh and one can't help but wish it landed on Ben Crane, but penalty strokes are the only remedy that will change behavior.

Before I move on, Mike Bamberger has an interesting and, highly ironic, take on Tiger.  Here's Mike's nut graph:

The PGA Tour would benefit from more departures from 72-hole stroke-play events.

That’s not just my opinion. Tiger Woods makes the case for new types of events on pages 207 and 208 of his new book about his 12-shot win in the 1997 Masters. He writes, “I would love it if we played a tournament every year where we had to use half a set. Or play with persimmon and balata on a 6,400-yard course. It would be fun for us to do a couple times a year. Low score would still win. The best player would still win.”

And let me add this:

I asked Tiger how he would feel about a regular-season event in which players from the PGA Tour and the LPGA would compete as two-person teams. Woods said, “I think a mixed-team event would be good. I played in the old JCPenney Classic in 1996 with Kelli Kuehne, and we finished, I think, tied for second. We had a lot of fun. [I support] anything to draw positive interest in golf, [anything] that would be good for the game.”

I'm not buying what Mike is peddlin'...  Tiger never had any interest in anything other than 72 holes, low score wins.  And he never looked especially comfortable with his partners in the Ryder and Presidents Cup either.  

He didn't like the Stableford used at Castle Pines, and he never evinced any particular openness to being taken out of his safe space out there,  My Golf Fact Checks rates this claim as Mostly BS.