Midweek Musings

It's a travel day, so I shan't keep you too long...

Tiger In Full - Shack and others are enjoying the newly-engaging Tiger.  First this, in which he seems to agree with my prior recollection of his time at The Riv:

An honest assessment of his Riviera experiences offered yet another sign that Tiger

Woods is a new man when it comes to admitting his deficiencies and comeback hurdles. 

“I love the golf course, I love the layout, it fits my eye and I play awful,” Woods said Tuesday in advance of the Genesis Open. “It’s just one of those weird things.”

Just when Geoff had me convinced that he owned the joint.  At least we've narrowed it down....

He's been generous with the kids, even allowing JT to hop on his ride out to California.  Though JT seems to have gotten the netter of this exchange:

On the flight out, Thomas asked Woods about that week. 

“He asked me when did I play in this tournament as an amateur,” Woods said. “I said, yeah, I was 16, 1992. He said, ‘that was the year before I was born.’ I’m sorry, but that put things in perspective really fast.”

And by way of contrast, Doug Fegruson has this about JT's exchange with another elder statesman:

Thomas recalls a practice round at the Masters last year with Phil Mickelson, when the three-time Masters champion left him hanging. 

“Phil says, ‘When I’m done playing, I have a couple of things with your game that will take you to the next level. They’re going to be so helpful for you that you’re going to be borderline unbeatable,'” Thomas said. “I’m like, ‘OK, what are they?’ He says, ‘I’m not telling you now.’ It’s the competitor.” 

Thomas paused and smiled.

He's punkin' you, JT....

And for you gearheads:

LOS ANGELES — Tiger Woods has made two significant changes to his driver as he

prepares for this week’s Genesis Open. 

Woods, who tees off at 10:22 a.m. Eastern on Thursday with Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, returned to a Matrix Ozik TP7HDe X-flex shaft that he last used in the 2015 Wyndham Championship.

“We could all see how bad I was driving it,” Woods said Tuesday in a news conference from Riviera Country Club, where he is playing for the first time since 2006. 

The more “stout” shaft is also complemented by a driver head change adding nearly a degree of loft to his TaylorMade M3.

Hmmmm...a lot of the older guys are going to XXIO.  

He's still being vague on the schedule, though he'll have to commit by Friday to play the Honda next week.  Jason Sobel dips into the wacky tobacci to offer some schedule advice....Including this non-starter:

April 26-29: Zurich Classic of New Orleans

From Justin Thomas to Rickie Fowler to Patrick Reed, there are a bevy of young stars who will continually text Tiger in hopes of becoming his partner at this two-man event. Instead, he'll opt for ol' buddy Phil Mickelson. And just in case you thought it couldn't get any better, Louisiana's own Hal Sutton decides to show up and walk inside the ropes, a knowing grin on his face the entire time.

I know, the bromance and all, but they're just punkin' us all.  Plus, let's stay focused on getting him ready for Augusta, shall we?

Now for the really important stuff:

When asked which actor Woods would like to see play him in a movie about his life, the 14-time major champion dropped a couple of big names of his own. 

“Denzel (Washington) as a younger version and Samuel L. Jackson as the older me.”

No word on casting choices for Rachel Uchitel....

“The Simpsons” is his favorite TV show, Porterhouse steak is his favorite food and his 1st tee Riviera walk-up song of choice would be “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison.

Is that an homage to Mack Daddy Santa?

 Another Twitter Fail - Guys, Grayson Murray is not a how-to manual....  Lee McCoy shares his thoughts with the world..... and the world wins:

Following his final round at the Web.com Tour's Club Colombia Championship, McCoy shared his exasperation on Twitter regarding children in the gallery who were seeking autographs and souvenirs. 

“There were at least 30 kids out there who were there only to try and get free stuff from us. So no, I’m not grateful they were out there,”McCoy wrote on Twitter.

He also posted a handful of follow up tweets, one of which described South America in a negative light. 

The backlash was immediate, with fans, media and fellow players criticizing McCoy for his assertions. McCoy not only deleted the comments in question, he disabled his Twitter account.

McCoy is a good kid and he was appropriately contrite, but one can't help but marvel at the lack of foresight.  Any words of criticism posted on social media will be eaten by the poster withing hours... 

It's On - Shack is of course on site at Riviera and the distance chatter is building:

The distance chatter around Riviera has included a great deal of shock over R&A ChiefMartin Slumbers conceding that the line has been crossed, with nearly everyone I talked to then saying something to the effect of: "but a year ago they said everything was fine."

I was reliably assured that there was nothing to see here....

And I would note, that stance was taken with no shortage of hubris in some parts of the world.

I suspect the position reversal will be the first stumbling block faced by golf's governing bodies when they begin to discuss what to do about the distance explosion.

Isn't that the least of it? 

Shack links to this Alistair Tait item, which isn't much more than a rehash of Martin Slumbers' comments from a couple of days ago.  But it's Shack's own comments that add the piquant flavor:

I sensed after hearing different views at the PGA Tour level today that the R&A and USGAmay not realize how few friends they've made over the years. Former R&A Chief Inspector Peter Dawson and his condescending, inconsistent positions were referenced more than once. 

Those with opinions on both sides of the aisle will expect an explanation of the status quo position. Otherwise I don't expect the conversations to last very long. 

Perhaps the upcoming distance report will address why there is a change in position when it was apparent long ago that there were issues on multiple fronts. If not, the discussions Slumbers referenced above will not go smoothly. Or very far.

Which seems the most likely scenario, no?

As Day Follows Night... -  The old saw is that no honest man has ever won a handicap event, so....

Larry Fitzgerald didn't just win the pro-am portion of the AT&T, he ran away with the title like a wide receiver waltzing into the end zone for a touchdown after the defensive

back covering him fell down. The Arizona Cardinals star teamed with Kevin Streelman to finish at 41 under par, seven shots clear of second place. 

First off, congrats, Larry. But to the victor of a tournament using the USGA handicap system comes the inevitable skepticism of your handicap index. 

Seriously, when has someone won a net event and not taken some ribbing for being a sandbagger? My friends and I spend all year questioning the handicap of whomever we've deemed the favorite to win our annual golf trip. And when that person doesn't win, we move onto the person who did win and declare we're not letting them come on the trip next year unless their handicap goes down significantly. It's human nature. So are the questions surrounding Larry legit? Let's examine.

Really, here's all you need to know:

That chart is more volatile than the stock market. And as you can see, Fitzgerald was a 6.6 handicap (a full FOUR shots lower) as recently as September.

Hey, it's not like he's a professional athlete or anything.  I do hope he's smart enough to never win this thing again.

 A Tough Gig - I don't know Christopher Powers, but he seems to have drawn the long straw for assignments, to wit:

Last week Instagram star and aspiring professional golfer Paige Spiranac revealed that she'd be appearing in this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which hit shelves on Tuesday. Luckily for you, the internet exists and you don't have to go to a store with said shelves to buy the magazine and see the photos like it's the Stone Age. 

Instead, you can simply follow this link for all 44 (!) of Paige's photos, which are ... interesting. Spiranac unveiled a few via her Twitter and Instagram accounts as well.

And here's the half-nude-sitting-on-rock pose. Probably not as good for the lower back:

Nah, it's not hurting my back at all....

I know it's a short post, but you do have those 44 photos of Paige to tide you over.