Weekend Wrap

A fine day of golf and golf for the staff of Unplayable Lies.... I can only hope that your course drained as well as ours.

Arrivederci, Ponte Vedra - It was quite a day, just not the day for which the Tour and NBC were hoping.  And I have to admit, I didn't SiWoo this coming....<rim shot>:

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – It was Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May, but it felt like summer. College girls in sundresses, parked on the clubhouse veranda. Incognito 

men, in their hats and sunglasses and Prosperous American heft, behind the 17th tee, analyzing the action with cross-armed intensity. They reflected, these men did, the tone from on high, from NBC Sports, where Justin Leonard, the 1998 Players champion, was explaining to Mike Tirico that the players—the best golfers in the world—were backing up not because of the difficulty of the TPC Sawgrass course but because of the greatness of the trophy—an obelisk, made of crystal—for which they were playing. 

Hmmm. Less reported were the spoils: $1.9 million and a five-year Tour exemption for winning, $1.1 million for solo second, a half-mil for fourth. Big bucks, right on down the line. The gents weren't playing for eternal consciousness or a green jacket. They were playing for the bacon, maybe more of it than they could handle. Maybe that was the real reason why the golf on Sunday was so poor. 

With one exception: the golf played by the winner, Si Woo Kim of South Korea, with his perfect swing, limited English and 21 years on this earth, who played like an automaton, a drive-it-in-play scrambling machine. You wouldn't call his golf exciting. But it was better than anybody else's, and he won by three. At some point, he smiled.

Folks have gotten a tad spoiled, with the recent winners coming from the show pony list.  But if you're surprised by this winner I have two words for you, Craig Perks.

The Tour Confidential panel convened last evening, and took on the winner's unlikely form:

1. Si Woo Kim, the youngest player on the PGA Tour, put on a ball-striking clinic for three days, then relied on his short game on Sunday to win the Players Championship. Explain how a 21-year-old who was outside the top 200 in key ball-striking categories coming into the week and had more missed cuts and WDs than cuts made this season won the richest event on Tour.

Michael Bamberger: Oh, I wouldn't read much into that. I know this is an era of big data, but the fact is he won on Tour last year, he's an outstanding golfer and sometimes little changes come together in golf in big ways. It's happened many times before.

Josh Sens: Because golf is famously and wonderfully fickle, and when something clicks for a guy good enough to have already won on Tour, anything can happen. Recent struggles are no guarantee of continued misery, just as victories aren't a sure sign of more titles to come.

This kid has already won and made it through Q-School at 17, so it's not like he can't play a little....  But the story was less Kim than it was the way the rest of the field backed up....

We have some strong words from strong personalities today, so let's begin by turning the micorphone over to repeat-offender Brandel Chamblee:

“This is from a statistical standpoint perhaps the greatest upset you’ll ever see. In terms of upsets, this is Great Britain voting to leave the EU. This is Trump winning the presidency. In an era of big data, when you look for data to give you some idea of who might have a chance to do what, where and when… You’re talking about a guy in the ‘All-Around’ statistic that measures pretty much everything that was dead-last on the PGA TOUR. He was basically near the bottom of every single statistical category. Yet, because of the distance constrictions of this golf course, the very best players cannot play their best game. It’s not Tiger proof, it’s superstar proof, it really is. And so it turns into a scrambling contest. And who won the scrambling contest? Si Woo Kim… [This course] puts everybody on edge, pretty much turns it into a scrambling contest, and he won it.”

I would have gone with Ouimet over Vardon, but that's perhaps just me....  OK, there is certainly some truth here, but let's remember that the list of prior champions is littered with names like Woods, Couples, Love, Day, Fowler and Mickelson.   What?  Oh yeah, but also Tim Clark, K.J. and Stephen Ames....  Diversity is out strength....

Here's how the TC panel absorbed it:

3. At slightly under 7,200 yards, the Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass is short by today's Tour standards. So why do we see so many big numbers? And is the Players hard to win because the course is so tough? Or is it all about the players knowing how significant a victory would be?

Bamberger: Water hazards. It's the only thing, along with O.B., from which the players cannot recover. That's why the players (as best I can tell) have mixed feelings, or negative feelings, about the course. As Rory said the other day, it's a course that dictates how it must be played. You're playing not to make mistakes. That's a recipe for high scores.

Shipnuck: The greens were very firm, the wind was quite strong at times, and every miss is severely penalized. This is a recipe for big numbers. It's a tough tournament to win because the field is so strong and the course demands exacting golf. Also, it takes the driver out of play for the longest hitters, so their primary weapon is neutralized.

These lads, I think, are circling around the issues...  there's water everywhere, and this year the entire course stayed firm for all four days.  But Dye is also a master of disorienting angles, and many of these guys just have trouble dealing with the look this course gives you.

Before returning to Brandel being Brandel, the TC panel had some other thoughts about the place:

5. No fewer than 69 golf balls found the water at the island-green 17th. Are you a

fan of the hole? 

Bamberger: I would hate to have to play it on my home course. It fits with this course. It helps make this event the TV show it is.

Sens: Sure. Great theater. It's a little hole that goes a long way. I wouldn't want to play it every day either, but I love watching the pros play it once a year. 

Shipnuck: It's the whole tournament distilled into one hole: over-the-top and slightly tacky but somehow it works.

It's a little bit country, a little bit rock-and-roll....  It makes the guys uncomfortable, and therefore we can't avert our gaze.   My biggest surprise was how many air-mailed the green on Thursday, when the pin was up....

6. In what seems to have become an annual rite, TPC Sawgrass unveiled a couple of big changes, new greens and other subtle tweaks. What's the one thing you'd change to make Sawgrass a better track? Or is it time to stop tinkering? 

Bamberger: I think I'd raise the back of the 17th green. Too many quality shots just roll right off and into the water. That's cruel. 

Sens: Put a kraken in the water around the island green, like in those Geico commercials. 

Shipnuck: I like where Josh is going. A serious answer would be to build a bunch of new back tees so Rory, Dustin and their ilk can hit more drivers, which is only the most exciting thing in golf.

I'm pretty sure there is a Kraken in there already, so unless you want them to mate....

But Alan is way off base....  Love it or leave it, but making this course longer would be a disaster, especially when it's firm as it was this week.  Take the fifth hole, a beast to those who have played it but short by the  yardage standards of the day, and on which I saw Jason Day hitting his driving iron off the tee.  But last seen, Day was headed to double digits over par...

Back over to Brandel:

2. Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee criticized Ian Poulter for the way he closed on Sunday, saying he "clearly did not play to win." Chamblee's biggest issue seemed to be with Poulter hitting a safe shot on the par-3 17th instead of attacking the pin when trailing by two. Is Chamblee right?

Sheesh!  I know his job is to be controversial and Poults is an obviously safe target, but really?   You can click through and read their answers, but I'm a lot less enamored of Brandel, at least in this case, than they are.  The greens were firm and the wind swirls in that spot, and you're trying to discern how the wind will affect your wedge.  Oh, and you carry it four yards further and it feeds to the pin...

Some guys took Poults to task for laying up on the prior hole, but NBC didn't give us too much on his yardage and only the briefest look at his spongy Bermuda lie.  I hardly think this was Chip Beck territory...  Just a tough set of conditions for a guy that hadn't been in the position in ages and never was the best closer on the planet.

And the two had a thoroughly modern Twitter-spat after the fact:

Brandel thinks there's way too much negativity on Twitter....  

And while I've never been accused of being a Poults fan, one has to admire his reaction to that second shot on No. 18:

As good as this week was, I'm still going to try and dissect it and work on certain things that need working on, the dreaded shank.

Q. So you're calling it a shank?

IAN POULTER: Oh, it was a full one. Yeah, it was a lovely one. Make no -- it was a shank. You'd like me to spell it for you?

No, I'm good... But his next shot was pretty damn good as well....

Before we get out of here, the winner's best shot of the week came on Saturday, in case you missed it.   But, of course, this was the best shot of the week, as well as the best impression of Hale Irwin. 

Lastly, JB Holmes came in for some criticism for his comments Saturday afternoon.  You know the drill, these guys are too comfortable with top tens, they're gotten soft because they don't need to win....  anyway, here's the soundbite:

Q. Could you just talk to what winning a tournament of this magnitude would mean to you? 

JB HOLMES: It would be great. You know, it's a golf tournament. It's a huge event, don't get me wrong, but in the end, it's just golf, and hopefully I can go out there and play well and win tomorrow, and if I do, my life is not really going to change. I'm going to load the car up and go to next week and play next week, and we'll live in the same house and I'm going to drive the same car. Don't get me wrong, I would love to win, and it would be awesome. Such a cool tournament, and to be able to lift that trophy would be amazing, but I'm not going to dwell on everything.

JB went out and shot an ugly 84....  I know, what would a beautiful 84 look like?  

But did he look like he cared too little or too much?  I'm putting my money on the latter...

The Norman Variations -  Did we mention strong personalities?  there's times when the wrong messenger conveys the wrong message about the wrong story, and I'm not as excited as you'd expect, because the degree of difficulty is too low.

Greg Norman applies his vast intellect to saving our game, and hilarity ensues.... He takes to the pages of the hitherto unknown WorldwideGolf.com and shares this profound insight:

When I watched the Masters I turned the sound off the TV! 

One thing I find far from appealing is the quality of some of the commentating on TV. They’re as boring to listen to as it is to watch boring golfers play. You get that constant monotone voice: everyone hits a great shot, nobody has an opinion, nobody wants to upset the applecart, and everyone’s got the greatest short game in the world. 

When I was in the gym watching The Masters on TV last month I turned the sound off and listened to my favourite music and simply cranked up the volume.

Where to start?  OK, I guess let me pretend to be gracious and give Sir Nick Faldo first go at this lay-up:

Well played, Sir Nick.  

Obviously, self-awareness isn't in the Shark's repertoire....  If only they were smart enough to put you behind that microphone.  What?  How did it work out?

There's two things I think worth saying here....  Obviously Norman sucked in that role, but we all remember DJ's shocking three-jack at Chambers Bay, a moment uniquely calling for the insights of one Greg Norman, and he gave us.... crickets.

My second point is that CBS is highly deserving of such a broadside, and Sir Nick is really quite bad.  But not only is Norman the last man on the planet that should be criticizing Faldo, but we'd be better-served focusing on their non-Masters broadcasts.  The club imposes so many restrictions on CBS, that it's a wonder that we get anything out of them at all...

Week-t-week, they've become insufferably treacly and show alarmingly little actual golf, so by all means let's call them out on that....  Just not this one guy.

Bad Form - I've called out Paulina and others for dressing beneath the dignity of the event....  So, no reason to give Jason Day a pass.  As the defending champion, he was required to return to hand the winner his trophy, and didn't see fit to inconvenience himself:

A skateboarding T-shirt and a painter's hat?  Maybe I'm just a hopeless curmudgeon, but is a collared shirt too much to expect?