Midweek Musings

A surprisingly robust news cycle, not limited to that Friday spectacular....  Folks seem to have gotten an early start on their mother-of-all-news dumps, including a body blow to your humble correspondent.  But we'll make you wait a bit for that...

Our Cup Floweth Over - Shack has himself positively giddy over the return of The World Cup to The Metropolitan, a sandbelt gem that gets lost in the shuffle.  With our temps headed towards the twenties, I'll admit that this looks pretty damn sweet:

Shack's got all your links, including this on the field from PGATour.com.  Yeah, the hole team looks pretty formidable, and Wally's Belgians do no better than an honorable mention.

And there's even bonus video of Matt Adams dissing the fabled Arnie-Jack pairing....  Good luck with that, Matt, though Arnie-The Slammer wasn't you know, chopped liver.

Bonus video of the venue as well:

A better than most format as well....

Golf Channel coverage starts at 8 pm ET Wednesday to Saturday, with the first and third rounds played at four-ball, and the second and final rounds alternate shot. Tee times and other particulars.

The event has quite a bit of actual history, though there won't be any side bets or presses.

Want some Tour news?

The Euro Beat -  The Euro Tour season wound down in desultory fashion in Dubai last week, with a troubling number of players failing to show to collect their checks.  We had that earlier in the week, which combined with Rory's threat to take his ball and go home to Florida should have Keith Pelley awakening in a cold sweat.

Yet, there's only one thing the golf press wants to talk about...  a transitory story that no doubt will have Jim Accosta lecturing POTUS soon:

Pelley has another potential PR disaster looming. The European Tour travels to Saudi Arabia next year for the Saudi International from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 amid the House of Saudi’s fall from grace following Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. 

Pelley was resolute recently when asked about breaking new ground in Saudi Arabia.

“I can simply say that the Saudi International is on our schedule in 2019, and I really don’t have anything more to add than that,” he said several times to repeated questioning. 

So the curtain falls on another European season, but a glimpse through that curtain suggests everything isn’t rosy backstage at the European Tour.

Folks can be so very curious....  This very Tour has been playing in the varied and sundry emirates for years, but it's only the Saudis that are beyond the pale....  really, they've been stoning gays and oppressing women womyn since the time of the Prophet, peace be upon you, but suddenly they're bad guys....

But here's that about which Pelley prefers we focus:

If the absence of star players sat heavily on Pelley’s mind, he didn’t show it in Dubai. The bespectacled Canadian may be diminutive in stature, but he’s got that hockey player’s mentality of never backing down from a scrap. 

“Our two critical KPIs [key performance indicators] are playing opportunity and prize funds,” Pelley said. “The 100th-ranked player in 2016 made €275,000. This year, they are going to make over €400,000. 

“This year on the schedule, I think there are 4,382 playing opportunities, which is a little up from last year but it’s five or six hundred more playing opportunities than a couple of years ago. As a members’ organization, that’s key, providing opportunities for people. We’re thrilled with the media value and we’re thrilled with what the Rolex Series has brought to the tour.” 

Rolex might think otherwise. The luxury watch company probably couldn’t care less about the 100th ranked player. Star players skipping lucrative events isn’t what they signed up for.

To this observer, these are warning shots across the bow of the Euro Tour, but the press is only focused on the Saudi event.  It's almost like they've got another agenda or something.... 

Hasta La Vista Malaysia - News broke a few days back that the Tour's Malaysian stop was imperiled....

The PGA Tour’s Asian swing will likely remain at three official-money tournaments, with the new event joining the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges on the Korean island of Jeju, and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai. 

The CIMB Classic in Malaysia is expected to fall by the wayside and is not likely to be played in 2019, a different source told Reuters.

Why?  Don't be silly, because the Tour got a better offer:

TOKYO (AP) — The PGA Tour will hold its first official tournament in Japan. And the

main sponsor of next year’s event, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, is describing it as a kind of “moonshot” for golf in his country. 

Maezawa should know. 

The founder of the Japanese fashion website Zozotown, Maezawa was announced earlier this year as the first commercial passenger to attempt a flight around the moon. 

“I think this will be the first PGA Tour sponsor that is going to the moon,” he said through an interpreter Tuesday in announcing the tournament. “I haven’t decided who I will take to the moon with me yet. I would like to talk to many people with an open mind.”

The significance won't escape you....  You've upgraded, trading one Asia stop broadcast in the dead of night for another..... That this will diminish the Asia-Pacific Tour, well, we cam argue whether that's a bug or feature, but it's clear that's of no concern in the 904 area code.

The PGA said it was a six-year deal, and driven partly by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and golf’s high profile there. 

PGA officials said the Zozo Championship will have a purse of $9.75 million with a field of 78 — plus 10 designated by the Japanese Tour, and eight others with special exemptions. It will be played at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba prefecture, just outside Tokyo.

I'm assuming we'll have none of those pesky membership issue there.... 

The World According to Chucky Three-Sticks - Last week's winner has endured out there, and shares with us what he loves and hates about our little game....  The irony being that they're the same thing:

What He Loves About Golf

“I love most about [golf] because it’s all on you, it’s all on the player. Golf is never about one competitor versus another and it never will be. It’s against the player versus himself

and versus the golf course. At no point today or whatever was I thinking it’s me against Cameron or it’s me against Webb or whatever. It’s just you against you, and as crazy as that sounds, it’s the way that it is.”

What He Hates About Golf

“What I hate about it is that you can work and work and work and get absolutely no results from that, and I know that there’s a lot of industries and a lot of areas where that also applies, but golf for certain. You can speak to any Tour player out here past or current and I think they would tell you the same thing, that you can go down a rabbit hole and work and work and work and literally on the back end nothing come out of it, and I think that’s the hardest part to swallow.”

It's not so much that one gets nothing out of it, it's just the timing thereof can be idiosyncratic.  Or, as this guy said:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

At which CHIII has done well.

A Certain Blogger Hardest Hit -  It is with a heavy heart that I bring you this sad news:

The PGA Tour and Vijay Singh released a joint statement on Tuesday, claiming a

resolved end to a years-long dispute between Singh and the tour involving Singh's anti-doing suspension. 

"The settlement reflects our mutual commitment to look to the future as we put this matter behind us," read the statement. "The PGA Tour fully supports Vijay as he continues to be a true champion on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. The PGA Tour recognizes that Vijay is one of the hardest working golfers ever to play the game, and does not believe that he intended to gain an unfair advantage over his fellow competitors in this matter. Vijay fully supports the PGA TOUR’s Anti-Doping Program and all efforts to protect the integrity of the game that he loves so much."

OK, I'm gonna need a moment here....  I acknowledge that Vijay was always a flawed vessel for my hopes and dreams,  and yet he's all I had.

Shack's got some spit-out-your-drink funnies from the press release:

The PGA TOUR and Vijay Singh are pleased to announce that we have resolved our prior dispute.

The PGA TOUR fully supports Vijay as he continues to be a true champion on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions.

The PGA TOUR recognizes that Vijay is one of the hardest working golfers ever to play the game, and does not believe that he intended to gain an unfair advantage over his fellow competitors in this matter.

Vijay fully supports the PGA TOUR’s Anti-Doping Program and all efforts to protect the integrity of the game that he loves so much. The parties will make no statement concerning the settlement terms resolving this matter.

I'll just have to console myself by enjoying the thought of how many billable hours were involved in the drafting of that enconium to the hardest working man in show business....

Shack thinks that Veej got himself paid for his troubles:

Anyone care to guess what the final dollar figure was? Maybe during The Match, Tiger and Phil can wager what they think Vijay got…for their charities of course. 

Given that Singh won an appeal in June and the case—summarized beautifully here by SI’s Michael McGann—was headed to a trial that might have gotten ugly, I like Vijay’s chances of having exceeded The Match’s winner-take-all purse.

Egads, I don't think so, but is it possible?  Do they have that much to hide in their disciplinary procedures, given that we probably know about all three of DJ's failed drug tests....  Unless you know, three is low.

I don't think for a moment that Vijay was trying to cheat in using deer antler spray, because he naively admitted it to a couple of Sports Illustrated writers.  As for why he might be a tad overly sensitive to such allegations, you'll need to read this John Garrity item from the Wabac machine.

My interest in the case was exclusively related to its promise to throw some needed sunlight onto the Tour's disciplinary actions.  Alas, Vijay turned out to have only his own interests at heart and the Tour had much to conceal, both of which we kinda knew from the get-go.

Women and Minorities Hardest Hit -  Who says POTUS isn't compassionate?  The fake news media will ignore this example of him identifying and correcting an injustice:

Donald Trump has ordered changes to his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire – because it is too difficult. 

The President has demanded holes be redesigned as good shots are being "punished".

It follows his visit to the resort in July when he played the new-look Ailsa links for the first time. 

The course, which was redesigned as part of the resort's overhaul, was named in the world's top 10 earlier this year.

Now Trump wants greens rebuilt to better reward players whose balls are flying off the putting surface.

 The revised layout has received glowing reviews, but there was one interesting note:

Turnberry members have been told the 11th, where the most extensive work will take place, could be out of action for up to three months. 

The President’s son, Eric, told the Ayrshire Post this week: “We will always look to tweak and make things better where we can.

“This is part of the natural bedding -in process of a new course and we’re making the changes in line with the R&A. 

“We want every hole to be perfect and if that means making a few changes like this, we’ll do it.”

Members?  I actually didn't realize they had any, it being a resort.  It's that reference to the R & A, though, which is of interest, since they're trying to wait out the 2020 election before deciding how to proceed.  Not that I really blame them...

The Long Way -  I'm not much of a social media guy, that's a young man's game. But this from Golf.com's Social Seven caught my eye:

1. Ladies European Tour player Florentyna Parker played a round at Gunsan Country Club in South Korea. Why is this notable? Well, the third hole at Gunsan CChappens to be the longest in the world, which she brought to our attention. When converted from meters into yards, this par 7 comes in at just under 1,100 yards. 

My head is already spinning at the thought of taking a courtesy “double the hole” 14…

OK, first it's even longer than you likely think, because it's in meters....

Exit question: How would Cam Champ play it? Driver-six-iron?

I've no clue as to the blogging schedule going forward, so check back early and often.