Mostly about the Nor'easter that's going to deprive us of our golf this weekend.... Sigh!
'Duh Match - Detailes have been released, and to golf's demographic it'll look mostly like alphabet soup:
For Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. PhilBlockbuster Pay Per View Event – Produced by Turner Sports – to Tee OffFriday, Nov. 23, at 3 p.m. (EST)/Noon (PST) With a Suggested Retail Price of $19.99
PPV Event Reflects New AT&T Combined Resources, Available ThroughTurner’s B/R Live, AT&T’s DIRECTV, U-verse and Other TV Providers
WarnerMedia’s Turner will present Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil, a highly-anticipated, head-to-head match play competition between golf icons Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on Friday, Nov. 23, beginning at high noon PT (3 p.m. ET). The pay-per-view event, hosted by MGM Resorts International at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, will be widely distributed on PPV with a suggested retail price of $19.99.Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil will be available on PPV through Turner’s B/R Live, AT&T’s DIRECTV and AT&T U-verse. The PPV will be distributed to other cable, satellite and telco operators including Comcast, Charter, Cox, Verizon and Altice in the U.S. and Rogers, Shaw and Bell in Canada through In Demand and Vubiquity (an Amdocs Company). Turner International will facilitate the distribution of live PPV access outside the U.S. and Canada.
Anyone have a link to the English translation? No doubt the biggest takeaway is the price, as thye seem to have backed off the leaked $24.99 price point. Though that "Suggested Retail" bit suggests that they're expecting some late discounting....
Your humble blogger considers himself of average technological competence, for the age group of course. But I have little clue as to how to order this product, even if I were, you know, in their target market.
Here was Shack's short take:
WarnerMedia announced the “pricing and distribution partnerships” for their Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson match, the first ever pay-per-view golf event. Capital One cardholders get 25% off.We’ll never know how many are sold, but I’m having a hard time seeing huge sales at that price given the general hostility exhibited by the golf audience at having to pay for the first time. Then again, it’s the day after Thanksgiving and reality may set in that there is nothing else on television worth watching!
Is it true that they won't disclose the audience size? I do feel an egg about to be laid, though maybe that's just my inner blogger hoping for some depraved begging as we approach the date.
They continue to hype this in-match betting:
As previously announced, the winner of this blockbuster, winner-take-all showdown between two golf legends will walk away with $9 million. During the live event competition, both Woods and Mickelson will selectively make side challenges against one another. For instance, Woods or Mickelson could raise the stakes by challenging the other to a long-drive, closest-to-the-pin or similar competition during a hole as they play their match, with money being donated to the winning golfer’s charity of choice.
Though they don't exactly make clear whose money is being risked... Not theirs is the reasonable conclusion.
This is similarly vague:
When Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson get together for their head-to-head match over Thanksgiving weekend next month in Las Vegas, they’ll play for a winner-take-all $9 million purse. They’ll cut big checks to charity, too.
Their respective managers announced that Woods and Mickelson will each donate a portion of the proceeds to a number of charities of their choosing, according to GolfChannel.com.
Winner-take-all seems inconsistent with the concept of each donating to charity, but perhaps clarity is a bridge too far for guys that have Tiger using a left-handed driver in their ad copy.
Downstream of Slow Play - Rex Hoggard performs a vital public service, answering the eternal question of why we should care about slow play. First, let's admit that it matters not whether our rounds take ten minutes more or less.... The only time we get aggravated is when we're forced to wait to hit shots.
For the big boys, it seemingly matters even less. Most of us consume our golf via TV, and they're free to cut away as today's pampered pro consults tarot cards before pulling a club. Rex uses last weekend's penalty to frame the issue:
At issue isn’t whether Pavin violated the circuit’s policy. He did. What Wadkins and others struggled with is a system that allows habitual offenders to circumvent the desiredoutcome - faster play - while continuing their sluggish ways.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” Stephen Ames tweeted. “It took us 4 hours and 15 minutes to play a 2-ball. We were an hour longer than the first guys that teed off. It’s unacceptable.”
Ames also pointed out in his social media missive that he played behind Bernhard Langer, who has a reputation of being a slow player. Rounds that last five hours or more is the biggest point of frustration for players on both the PGA Tour and the over-50 circuit.
It’s become a broken record for both players and fans. People complain, pundits point out the flaws in a system that includes warnings and a healthy degree of leeway when a player is timed, and nothing changes. At this point, complaints about slow play have become little more than white noise.
Those of us who care about this issue have to be honest enough to admit that the enforcement protocols are quite horrible, as we never seem to catch those who we know to be guilty as sin.
But here come those pesky real-world consequences, hitting about the only aspect of Tour life that gets their attention:
But before you tune out and dismiss this most recent episode, consider that slow play is much more than a mild annoyance. It might be aggravating to fans that have grown weary watching a Tour-type run the two-minute drill on a tough putt, but next week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open offers a glimpse into the cost of slow play.
The Tour’s policy board approved a plan to reduce the field size in Las Vegas from 144 to 132 players. According to a memo sent to players, the decision was made “to give the tournament a better chance of completing Rounds 1 and 2 on schedule.”
To be fair, part of this problem was driven by the event’s move from mid-October to early November, when the daylight window is slightly larger. But there’s no denying the fact that if threesome rounds didn’t regularly stretch past the five-hour mark, this would not be an issue.
Got that? Slow play = fewer slots in the field each week.... next up, per Geoff, is Riviera. Speed up, guys, it's for the children.
Frankie By The Numbers - You guys know the drill.... A player of modest length decides that in order to remain competitive he/she needs to become longer, changes his/her swing, whereupon comedy ensues... The list is endless, but I'll just submit Luke Donald and Lydia Ko as examples thereof.
Bucking that trend, though, is Francesco Molinari, as per this data:
He's basically picked up twenty yards in three seasons, not too shabby. Of course there's always a price to be paid:
As to the how, it's the usual suspects:
Molinari changed his swing, his equipment and strategy.
“My swing was very compact and very simple so it was probably easier for me than some other guys to find ways to get more swing speed and ball speed,” Molinari said. “It’s a very delicate work.”
He also hit the gym.
“I was more of a couch guy a few years ago,” he said.
We'll need Mark Broadie to tell us what it means:
Francesco is gaining 1.9 more strokes per tournament with his tee shots than he was in 2015 (when adjusted for courses and field strength).
Lest you have any doubts that we're living in a bomb-and-gouge world.....
Nobody Said There Would Be Math - Shane Ryan has had his share of hits and misses recently, though it's been an interesting ride. Today's offering promises to continue that trend:
Can any of golf's young stars win 10 majors? A (somewhat speculative, extremely comprehensive) investigation
A quick reminder, unless you include amateur events, there's only three guys that have dome it to date, two if we limit ourselves to the modern era however defined. To me, it's interesting because of the current state of most of his short list:
Rory McIlroy: 4, 29Brooks Koepka: 3, 28Jordan Spieth: 3, 25Justin Thomas: 1, 25
Some might argue with the inclusion of JT, though he's young enough and has shown enough game to at least serve as a proxy for the gaggle of newbies. But I'm more amused by Rory and Jordan,
whose games have been such in recent times that it would seem foolhardy to speculate about them winning anything, much less a mere 6-7 majors.
This is, of course, all about Brooksie, whose current trend line indicates that he'll win his tenth major in 2021, though I'd still recommend the under.
As I'm sure you've noticed, those trend lines do continue, until they don't. To me, it seems a longshot that we'll ever see anyone win ten majors again, though I won't be here to collect on that bet.
Asked and Answered - Not the best of weeks but, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, you post with the mailbag that you have..... Our weekly dosage of Shipnuck:
What current player(s) can you see filling the role of lead broadcast analyst in the future? #AskAlan -Mike (@mknjvt91)
You gotta start with Tiger and Phil, who are both very smart and keen observers of the game. Tiger is more analytical, Phil more opinionated. Both are excellent trash-talkers. They have seen and done it all and could offer so much insight.
If I have to pick one I’ll go with Phil, simply because I think he’d be more entertaining. But neither one needs the money and I doubt either would want to commit to a full schedule, so if we’re talking about more realistic options, my first choice is Geoff Ogilvy. He’s so eloquent about how the game is (or should be) played and is always bursting with counter-intuitive ideas. Padraig would be great, too, bringing a droll wit and golf-nerd viewpoint.
I'm thinking Robert Allenby or Grayson Murray, just on the theory that they won't have to worry about criticizing friends.... Of course, that makes one think of our Patrick, for which it may remain too soon. To me, his second 'graph is far more interesting than the first, but you all know of my mancrush on Ogilvy.
Which career would you rather have right now, DJ or Brooks? -@theAle Marcoli
Hmmm, which guy is six years younger but has three times as many major championshipvictories? I know what you’re getting at, that DJ has 19 PGA Tour victories and Brooks only five, and that’s a substantial difference. But how many career victories does Tom Watson have? Nick Faldo? I don’t know without looking it up. Do you? But we can all recite play-by-play from their major championship victories.
It is majors that define a career, and in golf’s biggest events Koepka has proven to be a ruthless closer while DJ has suffered through a decade of Sunday slippage. Koepka’s haul of three Big Ones is already Hall of Fame worthy, and if he can get to five or six that puts him in Seve-Lord Byron-Trevino territory, which is to say, among all-time legends.
Meanwhile, 20+ wins with only one major is Davis Love/Lanny Wadkins territory: very good but not quite great.
Paulina vs. Jena? That is a tough one..... Silly question, since Brooks has six years on DJ, and already has that 3-1 lead in majors.... DJ has won routinely out on Tour, but has had his troubles when it counts most.
#AskAlan What do you think turned around for Danielle Kang from freezing on her stroke to eking out a come-from- behind win? Is anxiety in international golf a big question that needs immediate attention? -Anand (@SportaSmile)
I loved how brutally honest Kang was about her mental struggles, and all the ways she brawled her way out of that dark place. It reminded me of Jon Rahm talking about the extensive mental preparation he did (alone and with his quasi-life coach) from Saturday evening at the Ryder Cup until his tee time the next day versus Tiger Woods in singles.
There’s so much that goes into tournament golf beyond swinging the club; in a recent podcast I did with Brendan Steele, he estimated 50% of Tour players are afraid to win and hold themselves back, consciously or unconsciously. So Kang’s struggles aren’t unique, only her candor is.
This was an interesting story that I never got to, as Kang describer herself as having the full-swing yips, and at a very young age.
Using this to make a broader point, I've long believed that the mental demands of our game are the least understood challenge by non-golfers. There's just so much time for your mind to prompt those dark thoughts, unlike any other sport of which I am aware.
No love for Sergio’s third win at Valderrama? -@JacekPerson
Plenty of love! It is a measure of Garcia’s ballstriking wizardry that he has now won three times on the tightest, most claustrophobic course in championship golf.
I’ll never forget following Sergio around Colonial in 2001, when he won for the first time in the U.S. I was in awe of how he shaped the ball around that twisty course, and Valderrama requires even more precise ballstriking. It’s nice to see Sergio back on top at the end of a tough year.
Which 2018 USA Ryder Cupper (if any) would have made the cut at Valderrama? -@theAleMarcoli
Vice captain Zach Johnson.
Another story on which I passed, as the field was awfully weak. But those tight confines were tailor made (no longer TaylorMade) for Sergio.... And while Alan's Zach bit is amusing, JT did fine at the French Open earlier this year.
Any thoughts on the new 8-round cumulative score LPGA Q Series that starts Wednesday at Pinehurst on #6 and #7? 102 players in the field, top 45 plus ties earn LPGA cards. Playing Pinehurst #6 and #7 courses. -Dave (@PopsandSunshine)
It is absolutely brutal, borderline inhumane … and I love it.
Alan, have you always hated women?
This one has far too low a degree of difficulty:
#AskAlan Which gamer would you have liked to write: ’91 Ryder Cup, ’84 Open Championship, Nancy Lopez’ rookie season, Cherry Hills, or The Match? -Oskar (@tallboy199)
These are all spectacular options but I’d have to say the Match at Cypress Point between Ben Hogan-Byron Nelson and Ken Venturi-Harvie Ward in 1956. All the other events were pretty well-chronicled at the time, but for more than half a century (until Mark Frost started sniffing around) the Match was little more than an urban legend.
I sneaked onto the grounds in 2012 when Davis Love, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, and Nick Watney did a quasi-recreation and Cypress Point stole the show. To go back in time and watch those four mid-century legends combine to make 27 birdies and an eagle — and then to be the only person that gets to tell that story to the world — would be a dream.
That one's been done, so it's all a bit silly... But, in one those cosmic convergences, we have an event that just so happens to be called The Match taking place on November 23rd. Why not beat the Christmas rush and write the definitive book on that one? I'm sure you get your publisher to pop for the $19.99....
Have a good weekend.
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