Weekend Wrap

Just a little actual wrappage, then we'll look towards the week ahead...

Memphis in June - What the heck, shall we start with some Hoagy?

With the event's move to August, that will be my last chance to use that one.  Unless and until TPC Southwind is awarded a U.S. Open.

But this header is a bit over the top:

Capped by epic eagle hole-out, Johnson wins FedEx St. Jude Classic, reclaims No. 1 World Ranking

Epic?  You're gonna run out of adjectives if you insist on being so promiscuous in their use.  You have a mouse...use it if you have the slightest interest in anything that happened there.

Quaker Regrets - The only negative from the week's lovefest at Quaker Ridge was that the U.S. so dominated that Sunday had to be anticlimactic:

SCARSDALE, N.Y. — Yes, winning begets winning, but this was ridiculous. 

Eight talented American golfers played eight talented golfers from Great Britain and

Ireland in the third and last day of the Curtis Cup on Sunday and the eight talented American women won each match. Quaker Ridge, the spectacular venue, had never seen anything like it. The Curtis Cup had never seen anything like it. Amateur golf had never seen anything like it. 

If the outcome of each match was a 50-50 proposition, the chances of one team winning all eight matches is one in 128. Virginia Derby Grimes, captain of the U.S. team — which won this 40th Curtis Cup by a record-breaking margin (17-3) — is heading home to Alabama on Monday. Alabama has no state lottery. She might consider playing New York's Lotto before she heads south.

Yowser!  I can't help but feel for the GB&I team, and all those fans that came a long way to support their girls.  

Off Script - Any of you kids remember Michael Kinsley?  His most famous (perhaps only) quote is this:

A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth - some obvious truth he isn't supposed to say.

Submitted for your approval is this from Jimmy Walker, on the controversial subject of backstopping:

Walker wrote on Twitter that the decision as to whether a player will mark his ball can

come down to how much that player likes (or dislikes) the other players in his group. 

"If you like the guy you might leave it to help on a shot," he said. 

"Usually a guy will ask if he would like to mark it," he said. "If you don’t like a guy you will mark anyway. If you like the guy you might leave it to help on a shot. Some guys don’t want to give help at all and rush to mark their ball. To each his own."

That seems terribly unfair to the Grayson Murrays and Robert Allenbys of the world, but amzingly Jimmy keeps digging:

Former pro and course designer Michael Clayton replied, saying, “So you decide who is worthy of your help and who isn’t?" 

“I try to help everyone,” Walker said. “Especially if they got a bad break or got short sided. I’ve asked 'do you want me to leave the ball?’"

OMG!  Doesn't he hear the words as they come out of his mouth?  The first bit about helping everyone is just a little pathetic...  Jimmy, you're a great American.

 But the last bit?  Wow, I can't wait to see what Jay Monahan does with that, because... well, this:

Backstopping is covered in the Rules of Golf. According to Rule 22-1, Ball Assisting Play, "in stroke play, if the Committee determines that competitors have agreed not to lift a ball that might assist any competitor, they are disqualified."

As we know, the guys have heretofore kept to the script, that balls might inadvertently be left on the green but only because of their relentless focus on pace of play.  But no wink-and-nod from our Jimmy, who might as well have  "Shall I leave my ball in violation of Rule 22-1?"

And while Justin Thomas assures us that this happens "like twice a year", there's video of two such incidents at the link.

The Tour Confidential panel leads with not one, but two questions on this subject:

1. The "backstopping" debate flared up again over the weekend. (Backstopping is the term used when players — consciously or not — don't mark their balls on the green, which gives other players a small advantage should their balls strike the unmarked ball; the player who didn't mark can move his or her ball back.) Jimmy Walker said via Twitter on Saturday that "if you don't like a guy you will mark anyway. If you like the guy you might leave it to help on a shot. Some guys don't want to give help at all and rush to mark their ball. To each his own." … "I try to help everyone," Walker continued, replying to others. "Especially if they got a bad break or got short sided. I've asked 'Do you want me to leave the ball?'" But per the Rules of Golf (Rule 22-1, to be exact), the act of backstopping is illegal. Did Walker just unwittingly admit to violating the Rules?

For himself and others, actually.   Amusingly, in trying to present as a good guy, he's made himself the poster child for this.

Dylan Dethier: I think they'd be annoyed that he said so explicitly what nobody else had any interest in admitting. It sounds like sort of a subconscious decision that pros make — not anymore!

If only!

Michael Bamberger: This thing is about more than the small chance you might help the other guy. It's about the spirit by which you would want to help the other guy so (unspoken) he will help you some other time. That's not tournament golf.

This is an interesting follow-up, though a bit of a red herring:

2. Is there any way for officials to enforce backstopping in professional golf, or is there too much gray area where players can get around the rules? What, if anything, needs to change?

Missy Jones, rules official and USGA committee member: Peer pressure is the way to go with this but aside from that we have a Decision that says a referee can step in. This would be an extreme case of babysitting, but Decision 22/7 says a referee would be justified in intervening and requesting the competitor to invoke the Rule to protect himself and the rest of the field. If the competitor objected it would be pretty good evidence of an agreement to collude and assist, meaning a DQ if they refuse. That said, the guys on Tour need to be told from above that it doesn't look good and needs to stop. And the reason the penalty is so severe is because if they are really agreeing to do this — they are cheating. Cheaters get DQ'd.

This needs to come from Jay Monahan.  Jimmy needs to be slapped with a serious penalty in the form of a suspension that's announced publicly.  It's not entirely fair, but he just admitted to conspiring with fellow players and that's irrefutable.  It also needs to be backed up with a strong communication to all players that this has to stop now, before the outcome of an event is affected.  The saddest commentary is that today's young players, likable in so many ways, do not instinctively see how wrong this is....

Houston, We Have a Problem - It appears that Houston Astros owner Jim Crane has failed to put together the sponsor and venue necessary to save the Houston Tour stop, and that the unintended beneficiary is...:

The PGA Tour gave Houston organizers until June 1 to produce a sponsor and host course to keep the Houston Open on the 2019 schedule. That deadline passed with no progress from the host organization, the Houston Golf Association. 

Hollis Cavner of Pro Link Sports has vigorously pursued a PGA Tour date for the TPC Twin Cities course in Blaine that currently plays host to the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship. Cavner wants to play a PGA Tour event there as soon as next summer. 

A couple of possible tournament dates are the week before two 2019 majors: June 6-9, leading into the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, or July 11-14, preceding the British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

Those aren't exactly prime dates, but they certainly work better up North than in Texas.  Word is that Houston is now angling for a slot in the Fall.....

Shinny: It's Go Time -  It is upon us, at last.... Shack had this interesting post about the gestalt of the week:

It's Complicated: Wanting The U.S. Open To Get Its Identity Back

Here's his lede:

As I wrote for the June Golfweek in recapping the events of 2004, the USGA just hasn't been the same since they lost control of Shinnecock Hills and injected themselves into the outcome. 

They were coming off low scoring at Olympia Fields and folks wanted them to get their identity back to being the toughest test of golf. We all know how that turned out (we'll be examining this in greater detail Tuesday night on Golf Channel's Live From The U.S. Open in a feature produced by Dominic Dastoli and reported on by yours truly).

Fast forward to 2017 and the USGA wisely takes a cautious approach to Erin Hills where the wind can blow and the ground can dry out quickly. Mother Nature didn't cooperate, the course played wide and players hit the ball obscene distances.

Which has created a nostalgia boomlet for the Tom Meeks era, bizarre for any of us old enough to remember those dreary days....

And here's his amusing take on the source of this angst:

--Venue Selection Division. The identity was lost with Erin Hills and Chambers Bay for many. Even though Shinnecock Hills is links-like in appearance, the designs of the aforementioned and their setup opened the USGA up to criticism. Yet both produced worthy champions and unlike 2004, there will never be a question about whether the outcome was tainted. 

--Anti-progressive Setup Set. It's hard to believe folks are clamoring for the days or chip out rough 3 yards off the fairway while the drive 30 yards wayward finds matted down rough. Nor can I fathom how anyone wants to go to some of the game's greatest places only to smother out the best design features to match the U.S. Open setup "identity." As long as the players can carry a ball 300 yards or more and use wedges to hack out of rough, the old ideal isn't coming back. 

--Mike Davis Disdain Marching And Chowder Society. If you do not fall into one of the first categories, chances are your desire to see the U.S. Open return to its old ways stems from simply not liking the role Davis has played in trying to move the U.S. Open into the new century while retaining some of the old identity. This group is generally made up of players and old guard USGA types who have magically forgotten the prominent course setup and rules role played by Joe Dey and Tom Meeks.

I tend to view 2004 as a cautionary tale of the risks we take in the modern era, but does Geoff think that Retief was a less worthy champion than Brooks?   yes, the 7th hole was hard to watch that week, but the right guy won...

The TC panel took on this issue as well:

6. After two much-questioned Open setups (at Chambers Bay in 2015 and Erin Hills in 2017, and the DJ rules debacle sandwiched in between) how important is it that the USGA gets this Shinnecock Open "right"?

Wood: Funny. Growing up watching U.S. Opens, every time someone made a par, it felt like a victory, a triumphant moment. You could almost see the guts on the faces of Curtis Strange or Tom Kite or Corey Pavin or Scott Simpson or Payne Stewart or Ray Floyd after securing another hole without a + by their score. It seems like it's gone the other way, Oakmont being a recent holdout. I don't know if a player like those listed above can win a U.S. Open these days.

Ritter: Right, Josh. Just don't botch the greens again and everything else should be fine. 

Sens: How are we defining "right"? To my mind, certain players complaining is not necessarily a sign that the USGA got it "wrong." Plenty of players have groused about the setups at tournaments that many of us look back on as successes.

The USGA is in an impossible position, though of course it's one they had a huge role in creating.  I suspect that this week will work out fine, though we could see lots of red numbers without any wind.

The only precedent in that question that applies is last year, when the wind sat down.  Chambers was a strange choice of venues for a U.S. Open for two blindingly obvious reasons:

1. We already have a major played exclusively on links, and:
2. It's passing strange to play our national open on a links, when we have maybe five examples in the U.S.

That said, Chambers wasn't a set-up disaster, it's what happens when we get strange weather, an unusually warm period causing the fescue to go dormant.  A risk, undoubtedly, that Mike Davis didn't perhaps know he was taking on....

Some picks perhaps?

3. The 118th U.S. Open is upon us, as the game's best head to Shinnecock Hills on Long Island. Give us your winner.

Berhow: I never would have said this a year ago, because I never thought he had the big-spot closing ability on Sunday afternoons, but Rickie Fowler's bogeyless, four-under back nine on Sunday at Augusta National was the proof I needed for convincing. He's been playing well this year, he's simply too good not to have a major and he just seems like the perfect fit for a Shinnecock/Long Island major champ. He wins come Sunday.

Rickie will get some action, though that final round at Augusta seems a tad irrelevant two months down the pike.

Zak: I agree, Josh — Rickie is gonna get it done one of these days — just not this week. The safest pick is Justin Thomas, whose floor is higher than every other player in the

world. His one missed cut this year came when he had a teammate in NOLA. Every single other event he's played in has been a top 25. Meanwhile, Rickie, Rory, DJ and other heavyweights have all taken their bumps and bruises at times this year. JT's bad golf is still so damn good.

Berhow: JT is a safe pick, sure, but the safest pick? That's Justin Rose. He's won in the last month, hasn't missed a cut all year and has nine top 25s in his 11 events played.

I don't especially like JT this week....  Seems to me his game is a tad one-dimensional, though of course he's awfully good when he's on.  FWIW, Rose is my pick, a she was at Augusta.  But that only tells you to steer clear, as I remain the '62 Mets of fantasy golf.

Dethier: Not obvious — gimme Henrik Stenson!

OK, Dylan, you're on your ow with that one....

Bamberger: Dustin Johnson. Bomb it anywhere, wedge it, make enough of ‘em. Like Daly did to the Old Course. 

Joe Passov: You serious journalist-types seem to be going where the facts take you. OK. I'm going for raw emotion, and a Phil Mickelson win. Why not? He's playing great this year, and he has a better record at Shinnecock than anyone in the field. Lefty finally gets his U.S. Open win.

There's one in every crowd.  I'd be watching that wind forecast before picking Phil, but Joe's the emotional type.  But notable is the fact that nobody picked Tiger, so perhaps there's hope for the media....

This might be the more interesting query, no?

4. Which big name is bound to disappoint?

I've got a few for you.... but we'll let the writers go first:

Berhow: Jordan Spieth hasn't had a top 20 since the Masters, and his misses on shorties are becoming a trend. I don't see him getting it together and changing that storyline this week.

Oh yea!  I'm guessing that our Jordan ends the week curled up in the fetal position....

A split verdict here:

Shipnuck: I don't know, Tiger has already parked his yacht in the Hamptons - that power move puts him a couple of shots up on the field before play even begins. 

Bamberger: I disagree. How many majors has he won out of his yacht? I fear he's the early leader in this odd category that leaves me uncomfortable, but only because he's the biggest of the bigs.

Mike is grading on a curve here.  I always liked Shinny better for Tiger than Augusta on the merits, but also because of the two months of additional play.  But he's not yet finished a round, so hard to see him finishing a major.

Passov: Sergio Garcia has entered the witness protection program since March, with four MCs and a 70th in his past five PGA Tour events. He's usually solid in U.S. Opens, with a T18 in 2015, T5 in 2016 and T21 in 2017, but for 2018, I'm not forecasting anything good.

 The venue should fit him well, but Dylan is correct that he's not played very well this year.

Dethier: I'm with Sens on Phil. Adored by the fans and in desperate need of a U.S. Open to complete the Grand Slam and secure his legacy? That's a lot of pressure as he heads out to Long Island.

I think he wants it too badly at this point....

Marksbury: Hard to top these picks, but I'll add Rory and Adam Scott to the "questionable putting" conversation. Shinnecock's greens have a treacherous reputation, and anyone who isn't rock solid on putts from three feet and in will likely suffer greatly this week. 

Wood: I honestly have no idea which big name will disappoint. What will disappoint me is if the big story on Sunday is the name of a rules official or USGA member involved in course setup.

The greens aren't crazy at Shinny, but Jess' answer is a bit of a category error, as those two guys aren't making many lists this week.