Weekend Wrap

I'm still waking up at 3:30 a.m., which might be good for blogging, but pretty much sucks in all other respects.

Firestone Farewell - Kind of fun, admittedly in a perverse sort of way, listening to the CBS crew wax nostalgic about the place.  I've never understood the appeal of the place, as the best spin you can put on it is that it's an exacting test of golf.  Or, more accurately, was, though this guy's thoughts might surprise some:

It's a boring course. You can fall asleep on it because you're always hitting the same kind of shots--woods or long irons. JACK NICKLAUS on Firestone

That suited his game and he had all sorts of success there, but that din't mean he had to enjoy it....  Just sayin'.

An impressive win by an impressive talent, for sure:

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Justin Thomas took all the drama out of the final World Golf Championship at Firestone, never letting anyone closer than two shots and closing with a 

1-under 69 to win the Bridgestone Invitational for his third PGA Tour title this season. 

Sweeter than capturing his first World Golf Championship was the sight behind the 18th green Sunday. 

His grandparents, Paul and Phyllis Thomas, watched him win for the first time on the PGA Tour. Paul Thomas was a career club professional and played at Firestone in the 1960 PGA Championship, missing the 54-hole cut. His son, Mike Thomas, also is a career club pro in Kentucky and a former PGA of America board member. 

“I got a little choked up when I saw grandma and grandpa over there,” Thomas said. “It’s really cool. They don’t get to come out very often.”

As noted ad nauseum, Thomas' grandfather played in the 1960 PGA Championship at Firestone, a feel-good story for sure.  

To me, the bigger story was how the name brands on the 54-hole leaderboard all went South, and I'm most certainly referring to a certain Holywood native first and foremost.  

Perhaps of greater import, there was a hole on the back nine where JT bombed his drive some 390-something yards.... and was away.  Shack has the skinny on all that core work under this header:

Firestone Once Again Feels The Impact Of Medicine Ball Work In Staggering (Statistical) Fashion

 He's also got it covered in this screen grab:

As well as with this chart:

Egads, Koepka bombing it 340+ gets a yawn, but Poulter at 327 is the one that has my eyes rolling....Shall we let Shack make his case?

The golf at Firestone is not everyone's cup of tea but when you put wedge approaches into the 2018 PGA Tour player's hand all day, Robert Trent Jones' design becomes less compelling. However in his defense, as you'll note in today's top website quote from Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear found the course dull even when hitting woods and long irons into the greens.

Boring?  I thought The Fried Egg's Andy Johnson put it best with this side-by-side routing maps:

What an imaginative routing, Mr. Jones.....  You must have stayed up nights on that one.

Either way, the driving distances at the final WGC Bridgestone were even more staggering than the normally huge numbers posted there annually. Driven solely by incorporation of medicine balls that have built super-cores like the game has never seen before these tall...well some of them...strapping...some of them...super jocks hit the ball unthinkable distances at the 2018 WGC Bridgestone, averaging 318.3 yards off the tee as a field.

Momentary pause to let that sink in. 

Try designing interesting golf holes for 318 yard averages on less than 250 acres.

Nothing to see here....

But I do have good news.  There are only two things that could make us miss Firestone....  The first would be Bellerive, and the second a dreary TPC in Memphis in August.  

Georgia On My Mind -  The crowds don't often get that which they crave, but this week the gods delivered the goods:

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) — Georgia Hall of England reeled in long-time

leader Pornanong Phatlum in a final-round duel at Royal Lytham to win the Women’s British Open for her first major title on Sunday. 

Roared on by the large galleries in her home country, the 22-year-old Hall only took the lead for the first time after a 20-foot putt for birdie at the 16th hole and stayed steady to post 5-under 67. 

After tapping in for a bogey — her first of the day — at No. 18 that secured a two-shot victory over Pornanong (70), Hall hugged her playing partner from Thailand before being lifted off her feet by her caddie, father Wayne. 

Golf-loving Wayne long saw this coming. 

His daughter was born during the 1996 Masters won by English golfer Nick Faldo at Augusta, Georgia, and she was named as a tribute to that victory.

Her rather subdued reaction was quite surprising, given its life-changing nature.  I'm assuming that at some point the floodgates opened, but I was expecting her to lose it immediately.  

I played in the morning and watched it all on tape later, but was surprised to learn that everyone watched it on tape:

But if you were watching the coverage on NBC, you saw Hall clinch the title over runner-up Pornanong Phatlum roughly 10 minutes after it actually happened. 

During the final-round telecast, network viewers in the U.S. saw action on this slightly delayed basis. An official with NBC/Golf Channel said the decision to air the broadcast in this manner was made based on the fact that Hall and Phatlum teed off in the final twosome at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, with a projected finish time of 1:40 p.m. Eastern. If their round ended on schedule, without a playoff, the broadcast team would then have 20 minutes left before the 2 p.m. signoff. Even with interviews and a trophy ceremony, it was more extra time than desired. 

“In order to fill a potential network television gap,” a Golf Channel spokesperson said in a statement, “coverage was slightly delayed in order to show comprehensive tournament action and conclude closer to the top of the hour, maximizing network audience exposure for this women’s major championship.”

Weird.  There was some pushback on Twitter, such as this:

Who knew Calc was  a fan of the ladies?

A fun week, but that brings our links season to a regrettable conclusion.  Which brings on a case of...

The Bellerive Blues - It's going to be dreary, so let's work up to this slowly.  First, CBS has lots of technology to wow us with:

Production and Technology elements in detail:

· 4D Replay – CBS Sports will be the first U.S. broadcaster to use 4D Replay on golf at the PGA Championship. A camera array covering 270 degrees of the 15th tee box will allow for 3D manipulation of the video. The video not only can pan anywhere within the 270 degrees of coverage, but can also be zoomed in and slowed down in playback to get a unique look at the tee shots from the best players in the world attacking the challenging Par 4 . 

· Toptracer – CBS will use Toptracer broadcast technology on all 18 holes, using 3D radar tracking to provide the viewer with a true sense of distance, height, curvature and more. Tracing live tee shots on various holes showing the apex, ball speed, distance and curve will once again be staples of this technology. Toptracer will also showcase new Range Technology during coverage of “PGA Championship On the Range,” both Thursday and Friday on CBS Sports Network. 

o ARL Virtual Eye - Virtual Eye technology returns this year with increased coverage of more holes. Virtual Eye uses Toptracer ball tracing capabilities on tee shots within a 3D Hole model while simultaneously showing the golfer hit shots from the tee. And, for the first time at the PGA Championship, it also will be used from the fairway on the 17th hole. Virtual flyover animations also return, giving a second shot perspective once the ball comes to rest including GolfTrax information providing key statistical information for both individual players and holes. Virtual Eye will be used both live and in playback.

o Toptracer RF - Toptracer will outfit two RF mini cameras in order to provide ball tracking graphics and statistics on a player’s second shot from the fairway anywhere on the course at Bellerive Country Club.

· Hawk-Eye Green Technology

o Putt Predictor - The Putt Predictor demonstrates the extreme differences in the line that a putt can travel and still go in based on weight of the ball strike. It provides a shaded area between the line of a hard putt to the back of the hole and a soft putt line that has the most movement. If a putt leaves the shaded area between the two lines the viewer knows that it will not drop.

o Undulation Grid - A graphical grid overlaid on a green along with moving arrows to highlight the undulations of a green. 

· Rover Cam - For the first time, CBS Sports will use a remote controlled rover with an RF camera affixed to it to provide a unique perspective to the coverage travelling across the grounds at Bellerive Country Club. 

· 4K HDR – Bellerive Country Club’s closing holes 16, 17, and 18 will be captured in 4K beginning Thursday and concluding with the final round. For the fourth time in 2018, CBS will produce live 4K golf coverage, which includes using 15 4K HDR cameras at the PGA Championship to air on DIRECTV. New to the Championship this year is the addition of HDR to the home viewers of the 4K show. HDR, with a wider color gamut, provides richer and more vibrant colors along with deeper contrast between light and dark for a more realistic image. 

· Smartcart – Introduced two years ago for the first time at a PGA Championship, Smartcart returns. The 72-inch mobile screen, attached to a custom-fitted golf cart for broadcast applications, will be used to analyze and telestrate a myriad of data including golf swings and shots, difficulty of holes, and scorecards bringing a new dimension to golf coverage with compelling content from action on the course. CBS Sports Network also will use Smartcart for Thursday and Friday’s “PGA Championship On the Range.”

· SwingVision – CBS returns its Emmy Award-winning technical innovation, SwingVision, featuring super-slow action to break down players’ swings and demonstrate shots from various parts of the course. 

· Aerial Drone Coverage – CBS Sports’ aerial drone coverage captured all the elevations, undulations and hazards of Bellerive Country Club. Drones allow for a much more dynamic look at each hole for the viewers from the “player’s perspective.”

· Cup Mics - Microphones will be placed in specified cups to capture audio from balls going into the hole as well as hitting the pin or even landing on the green near the cup.

· New Graphics - Celebrating the 100th PGA Championship, the graphics package embraces the spirit of the PGA using the navy and gold color scheme of the PGA of America. The amination package evokes the essence of this tournament through graceful movement and high-end 3D design.

Egads!  Where do you think they got the idea doe the mics in the sup?  Though perhaps they don't really get it, because the sound of the ball dropping into the cup gets old, but they occasionally pick up some good audio.  

But 4D?  If only I can remember where I put those glasses....

Both Golfweek and Golf Digest provide summaries of the greatest moments from the PGA Championship, and the modern stuff is comically bad.  Unless Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel are your heroes, that is.

As always, it's the history lessons that are most interesting.  For instance, did you know that Walter Hagen lost the Wannamaker Trophy?   No, literally:

1928 — Walter Hagen finally loses the PGA, but the bigger story might be that he has

lost the Wanamaker Trophy. Literally. After being beaten by Leo Diegel in the quarterfinals at Five Farms outside Baltimore, ending a run of four straight victories in the event, it surfaces that the Haig actually has misplaced the trophy, claiming he had given it to a driver to deliver to his hotel after an earlier victory. The PGA of America is forced to eventually make a replacement, but two years later, workmen going through boxes at a Detroit sporting-goods warehouse found the trophy in a sealed leather case.

I hope they took a deposit....And this one is certainly new to me:

1931 – “One of the finest matches that was ever played” at Wannamoisett

Not many talk about Tom Creavy’s PGA Championship win, but at the time it was the PGA’s version of Francis Ouimet over Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. The second-youngest PGA champion at 20 years old, Creavy beat Sarazen in the semis, then won 2 and 1 in a back-and-forth final over another PGA champion, Denny Shute. How good was the match? The legendary Bobby Jones was serving as a referee (who knew?) and declared it a masterpiece: “It was one of the finest matches I think that was ever played.”

When a match is best known for the referee.... 

It was a great championship, but its mojo was inextricably tied to being a match-play event.  But then TV happened, and we just can't have things like this:

1957 — The most distinguishing feature of the PGA Championship is that the event is a match-play competition for its first 41 years. But when Lionel Hebert beats Dow Finsterwald in the final at Miami Valley Golf Club in Dayton, Ohio, the PGA of America will have wound up losing money on the event and decide in its best long-term interests, it will switch to 72-hole stroke-play format starting the next year.

Since 1958 the event has seemed unable to decide what it wants to be when it grows up.   

But not to worry, the PGA will not lose money this week.  Far from it:

$2 million in hat sales? That's just a start at Bellerive's PGA merchandise shop

To grasp the enormity of the temporary merchandise pavilion constructed at Bellerive Country Club, it’s best to start with the 250 designs of hats that are spread throughout 46,800 square feet. 

There are about 16,000 hats and visors displayed on multiple walls that stretch 30 feet in length and on racks throughout the facility where shoppers will search for goodies starting Friday related to the 100th PGA Championship next week.

There are 64,000 in stock, waiting to replace those that are sold. And the expectation is that more may need to be ordered before the event ends Aug. 12. Mike Quirk, the senior director of merchandising and licensing for the PGA, believes hat sales could hit 100,000 over 10 days.

That's $2 million in sweat-stained hats by the end of the week, though I've got a sleeper pick for most popular item:

Decorative items include wood cutouts of Missouri with the PGA Championship logo and a dart board. Glassware abounds. Omega watches without the PGA branding are available. The checkout area will entice shoppers with tiny fans that plug into cellphones, pens and individual poker chips.

I'm guessing that tiny fan will sell out by Tuesday.... 

Bellerive, like Firestone, is a creation of Robert Trent Jones, as is my new home course.  Joe Passov had this curious tribute earlier in the week, notable mostly for what it fails to say:

With Bellerive Country Club in suburban St. Louis hosting the 100th PGA Championship, and Firestone hosting the Tour for perhaps the last time with this year’s Bridgestone Invitational, the spotlight shines again on Robert Trent Jones Sr. In the

passage of time since his death in 2000, it’s easy to forget what a dominant figure he was. 

More than 50 of his courses have cracked different Top 100 lists, and he was tasked with altering or building anew more than half of the U.S. Open venues between 1950 and 1970. The man who coined the phrase “Give your course a signature” became the first celebrity designer. His trademarks include long, “runway” teeing grounds, enormous, contoured greens and extensive use of water hazards. His redesign of Oakland Hills for the 1951 Open epitomized “target golf,” but he is more often credited with inventing the term “heroic” to describe the school of design that merged the best of the penal and strategic into a given hole. He was, and is, a giant in design.

Less well known is that he developed his philosophy from being part artist, part pragmatist. Early on, in his work of the ’30s and ’40s, he embraced fluidity of lines, fitting the golf course into nature. He rejected the linear, sharp-edged designs of C.B. Macdonald/Seth Raynor, the penal unfairness of British links golf (where you might have to escape a bunker by going backwards), and the push-up greens of Donald Ross, which rejected instead of accepted shots.

That "Protecting par" is about what passes for his legacy, and no one gets all warm and fuzzy about that.   And while he may have been the first celebrity architect, clubs are spending fortunes to restore the vision of their Golden Age architects.  Trent?  Not so much...

We'll have lots more as the week unfolds.  Check back early and often.