Your Friday Frisson

Is now a good time for the bad news?  OK, maybe later....

Opening to Mixed Reviews.... - I saw only a bit of it, but those reports that it's now winning time seem to have an expansive definition of "Now".  First is the insightful analysis of Golf Digest:

Tiger Woods had his moments, just not enough of them to fuel optimism

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Big crowds. Pristine weather. Tiger Woods, the hometown hero back for the first time in over a decade, on one of the greatest golf courses you’ll find anywhere. There was even an opening-hole birdie on the drivable par-4 10th—actually three of them in the group—after he laid up to 85 yards, wedged to nine feet and knocked in the putt. 

It felt like the old days. 

Thursday started so promising for Tiger in the opening round of the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club. 

It didn’t last.

His opening sequence went birdie-double-bogey-birdie.... But get a load of this whiplash inducing header from Golf.com:

Tiger Woods’s opening round at Riviera featured the good, bad and ugly, but optimism still abounds

C'mon guys, can't you agree on anything?  Is optimism abounding or is it sadly unfueled?

But at least the latter include this great photo from Tiger's Dancing with the Stars audition:

If that doesn't reinjure his back, I guess nothing will....

It's a very bunched leaderboard, but +1 puts him T63, though he's tied with the population of a small midwesterrn town.  The topline numbers weren't great:

Ah, but there also was the bad and the ugly during a round that caused fresh concern whether Woods can find a fairway. He hit eight of 14 fairways, and just 7 of 18 greens. He fanned his tee shot to the right at the 11th and never found the ball as it apparently hung up in a eucalyptus tree. Woods made double bogey.

Jeez, he it more fairways than greens?   That's not something you see every day, and suggests that the iron play wasn't up to snuff....

He'll be on a cut watch, but the more interesting thing to watch for today might be whether he commits to Honda....He plays in the afternoon, so Golf Channel will be all-Tiger, all the time.

His Shot - Guy Yocum's My Shot feature usually delivers, and this month it's Zach Johnson telling stories.  First, this will cement Kooch's rep in perpetuity:

IN THE MONTHS leading up to that 2012 Ryder Cup, someone started messing with

my locker. I’d open it, and everything would be rearranged, or a mountain of wadded-up paper would come pouring out. Another time it was filled completely with bottles of Old Chub Scotch Ale, which was random and had no connection with anything. It got a little irritating. Who would do stuff like that, over and over? 

It continued at the Ryder Cup. Early in the week, I opened my locker and found it plastered with magazine photos of Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte in their Speedos, with things written on them you can’t print. The mildest said something like, Hi, Zach, what do you think of my rock-hard abs? Your friend, Michael.At the opening ceremony on Thursday night, Michael Phelps actually was there. He was with Omega, one of the sponsors, and was there to help get the crowd into it. I saw Matt Kuchar walk over to Michael and whisper something in his ear. Michael nods, then comes over to me and introduces himself. After I say, “It’s great to meet you, Michael,” he leans in and whispers, “Zach, what do you think of my rock-hard abs?” Kuchar is doubled over, laughing. It hits me: Kuchar’s locker has always been right next to mine because we’re J-K alphabetically—he’d been the one messing with my locker. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it, but one day I’l have my revenge.

Ya gotta love the long con....  Though I'll remind you that this was Medinah, so it all ended in tears.

And this was interesting, about a guy from the course Zach played growing up:

THERE WERE CHARACTERS when I was growing up at Elmcrest. One guy showed up every week with a new set of clubs, the very latest. Shoes, balls and accessories, too. Somehow he got his stuff before our pro did, and all us kids couldn’t wait to see what he’d bring out next. He had a deep, gravelly voice and called everybody “ma’am” and “sir.” He was a total golf fanatic. He and his buddies played all day long and gambled up a storm. It turned out he was Bob Parsons, who today owns PXG. I play his clubs. Needless to say, I always have the latest, just like him.

There's much more.

Introducing....  - Mike Bamberger takes on the introduction of their new owner, Howard Milstein, to their readers:

Howard, his son Michael and their Emigrant colleagues are always on the lookout for good business opportunities. And if those opportunities involve golf, so much the better! 

The new owner with two familiar faces.

In 2007, Howard and Jack Nicklaus became business partners. In subsequent years, Howard (via Emigrant Bank) invested in the Japanese equipment manufacturer Miura and some techy golf companies. In the fall, when Time Inc. announced that it would be selling its two golf titles, Howard and Michael Milstein (a 6-handicap golfer) and various other Emigrants rolled up their sleeves, looked at what we were doing and won over both us and the day. 

Part of it, of course, is writing a competitive check. (Terms were not disclosed.) But part of it, too, was Emigrant's vision for us. Expand, in this age of media contraction. Our new owners believe more is more and better is better. In time you'll see enhancements to the magazine, and the website will have a cleaner look. You'll find more original content in our channels, in our game stories, profiles, interviews, travel stories, videos and rubrics not yet invented. We also intend to offer you even more help in improving your game, and finding the best places to play, the best places to buy clubs, the best ways to get fitted for clubs, the best methods to get those clubs to perform under the scrutiny of your friends and frenemies.

It's news that someone sees opportunity in our game.  It's perhaps even bigger news that someone sees opportunity in media.....  The combination is either inspired or suicidal.... stay tuned.

Invest With Your Head - On the few times I've blogged prop bets, the source was undoubtedly Alex Myers, a man with far too much time on his hands.  But this is a promising premise for a magazine piece, no?

This is all to say that the concept of buying shares of a professional golfer has a natural appeal to me. Although still probably not mom-approved, it’s a more grown-up form of

gambling than betting on the spread of a game. And financial planners always stress how important it is to diversify your portfolio. What’s more diverse than investing in a British golfer you've never heard of?

It's a fun read, including the offering solicitation and contract....But we may need to chack back in with Alex in summer:

My next order of business was finding a way to justify risking that much. At first, I

considered trying to turn it into a work expense for this story, but again, what if I wound up winning some serious cash? I didn’t want to be forced into forking it over to the company. Instead, I figured I could re-allocate the $250 I was about to spend on renewing my air conditioning service plan. I could put that off for one year, right? What’s the worst that will happen? As far as I can tell, all they really ever do is stop by once and tell me my AC is running OK. Plus, there are plenty of great golfers out there who owe their start to some sort of sponsor/investor structure. Zach Johnson is forever grateful for a group that staked him when he was a young pro and now he has a green jacket AND a claret jug. (OMG, Dave Coupland is definitely winning the British Open!) And just like that, I had talked myself back into those two shares.

Enjoy, and perhaps root for Mr. Coupland.... Just for the benefit of Alex' bride.  

That Bad News -  Off to ski in a bit, but that's not the issue.  Tomorrow I depart with a small posse to Jackson Hole, no doubt a futile attempt to chase powder.  At this juncture, I've not yet decided whether the laptop comes along for the ride and whether there will be any blogging.  Do check back and I'll be in touch if possible, but it depends upon conditions and the amount of alcohol consumed.