Late Week Lamentations

Employee No. 2 and I have a game later this morning, so we'll cover all that time allows...

Quail Scat - The Wells Fargo is a perfectly fine event, as Tour stops go...  But this was Mike Bamberger's preview story, and I can only conclude that he picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue:

Tiger, Phil, Rors and more! This is no ordinary week — get ready for the Masters, Part II

Masters, Part II?  Mike is too much of a grizzled veteran for that level of unsubstantiated hype, do they write their own headers?

John Peterson is a guy you'd be more likely to see on a milk carton than atop a PGA Tour leaderboard, and yet you'll be glad you made his acquaintance.  See, he finds himself with a dilemma, and you might like his priorities:

This is the story of a PGA Tour player who really needs a win … while actually not needing one at all. 

To understand the situation is to understand John Peterson, your leader by two strokes at -6 following Thursday’s opening round at the Wells Fargo Championship. And to understand John Peterson is to allow for the idea that maybe – just maybe – playing on Tour isn’t the end all, be all that every golfer who ever held a dream in his head and a driver in his hands believes it to be. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it out here (on the Tour),” he said Thursday. “They treat you great every week. You have nothing to worry about. I like it a lot out here. I just kind of want to be a dad and be around my kid and my family more often.”

You know how my mind works. by now.  I think "I don't Hate it Out Here"™ a far better slogan that "Live Under Par"™.

And next time your perfect tee shot rolls into a sand-filled divot, remember the bounce this guy got:

Quail Hollow named an eagle after Rory McIlroy for the four-time major winner's dominance at the North Carolina course. This Thursday drive by Brooks Koepka also warrants commemoration, albeit in ignominious fashion. 

During the first round of the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship, Koepka tugged his drive on the 18th hole, his ball headed towards the creek that hugs the fairway. Luckily for the reigning U.S. Open champ, the shot came down on land. Unfortunately, it also hopped into a spectator's lawn chair and ricocheted into the creek.

Rub of the effing green.

Men in Pink, Part I -  Fellow Met. Golf Writers Association member Mark Canizzaro landed an interview with Patrick Reed, and its a curious thing for sure....

“Every time I’m playing in a pro-am, guys tell me, ‘We didn’t really know what to

expect playing with you because of all the stuff we’ve read,’ ’’ Reed told The Post in a wide-ranging interview examining the negative perception that seems to remain attached to him like body odor. “Then they’re like, ‘Man, you’re such a nice guy. You’re always helping, you’re always interacting with all of us.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, because that’s who I am.’

“People make conclusions about somebody before they actually get to know someone. I feel like that’s what’s happened. They have the good guys on the Tour — I’m not going to name names, I’ll let you figure that one out — so they need to find the other side, they need to find the black hat, and it seems like that’s how I’m painted. 

“There are the guys that wear the white hats and they’re painting the picture of someone to wear the black hat and they chose me — even though they don’t really know me.’’ 

Does he care? 

“Not really,’’ Reed said.

And yet he feels compelled to tell us how much his pro-am partners like him....  Color me unconvinced.... Especially when he violates the first rule of holes:

“It would be nice for people to actually get to know me, because when you do something like we did at Augusta and for people to come out and try to take away from what we did, it’s wrong,’’ Reed said. 

“I can count numerous amounts of players that have issues at home,’’ he went on, referring to the scrutiny about his estrangement from his family. “I did something that I felt like was going to make my life better and it has. Everything I’ve done I felt like has been the best for myself, and I’ve grown with my new family. 

“Honestly, people can write anything they want about me and I could care less, but once you start writing stuff about my family, my wife and my daughter and son or my mother-in-law, then you’re drawing a line.’’

No doubt there was some of that in the coverage, especially about his Green Jacket Tour that was no different than Jordan's or Sergio's.  And while it's natural for a public personality to be protective of his family, it apparently was fine in his eye for his wife to describe his parents on Facebook as "Sick and in need of help".

It reminds me so much of Vijay, who also dealt with cheating allegations from long ago and far away.  I find that usually folks are willing to forgive and forget the mistakes of others, when acknowledged with some candor.  But it's not to be with this guy...

This, on the other hand, could be a cause for concern:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Patrick Reed took the week off before the Masters, and it paid off beyond the work he did on his game. 

He also had time to get his eyes checked. 

“First week ever wearing contacts, and I go ahead and make every putt I look at and win a golf tournament,” Reed said.

He didn't make everything, but he made more than msot.

Men in Pink, Part II - If you didn't see the broadcast, here's the reference in the headers:

Paired together, Patrick and Tiger showed up in seemingly the same ugly, pink-striped Nike collarless shirt.... Not the same size, I'm guessing....

The guy in pink without the mansiere shot an even par 71.

The Walkback - Perfectly on schedule, Rory would like to clarify:

"I didn't mean it like that at all. I sort of was trying to say if you look at where the U.S. Open and the Open were compared to the Masters 50 years ago, they were bigger golf tournaments," he said. "Now I think after everything that's happened over the past 50 years and the improvements that Augusta makes year on year, I feel like the amount of time between the last major of the season, the first major of the season, the hype, the eyeballs, the everything — it's just a notch above the other ones. I don't know if that's because we return to the same venue every year and there's a nostalgic feeling for everyone because of that, but that's what I was trying to say."

I'm not sure that will make folks any happier.... Care to try again?

"I'm a proud winner of (the U.S. Open and British Open)," he said Thursday. "I wasn't trying to be disrespectful at all. I was just trying to say that from where those tournaments were in stature in this game to where now the Masters is, I feel like the Masters has replaced those two tournaments."

He just keeps digging deeper.....

Houston, We Have A..... -  On Wednesday, Shack had this:

Golfweek's Forecaddie with news that the expected release of the 2018-19 PGA Tour schedule--the first with a May PGA Championship and potentially shorter playoffs--has been delayed. 

The reason, besides the obvious difficulties involved with a nearly year-round global calendar to line up, appears to be driven by efforts to find the Houston Open a spot. 

They've been around since 1946, it's the nation's fourth largest city and a tournament run by the local golf association doing incredible things to sustain and grow golf in the region. They've earned the right!

To me, the 4th largest city is the best of the arguments, to which I'd add the bit about DFW/Forth Worth having two events.....  Now comes news of a strong ally in the process:

Astros owner Jim Crane admits he's now front and center in efforts to secure a sound financial future for the Houston Open golf tournament, which was played this spring

without a title sponsor – Shell pulled out in 2017 following a 26-year run – and faces the prospect of being dropped from the PGA Tour calendar if it can't find major backing soon. 

Multiple sources, all requesting anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly, have told the Chronicle that the Tour has given Houston until early-mid June to pull together a viable sponsorship package that figures to cost at least $12 million annually, much of that going toward ad buys during the NBC telecasts. Crane wouldn't confirm the deadline, saying only that it's in all parties' best interests "that something gets resolved soon ... July at the latest."

The Tour has been holding off announcing its revamped 2019 schedule in large part because of sponsorship uncertainties with tournaments in Washington, D.C., Houston and Fort Worth (The latter locked up Charles Schwab & Co., through 2022 last week). The next Houston Open would be held in either mid-May, possibly as a lead-in to the PGA Championship that's moving to late spring from its traditional August dates, or June 6-9 prior to the U.S. Open.

Fair enough, especially since Crane's relationship with our game includes playing the Dunhill Links in a ski hat....  Good stuff, at least to this observer.

What's unclear at the moment is whether the date the week before the Masters is still theirs for the asking, or whether it's been promised to San Antonio.  Also unclear is whether the Tour has committed to the new event in Detroit with Quicken Loans as title sponsor...  As the kids say, stay tuned.

Have a great weekend, and I'll catch y'all on Monday.