Weekend Wrap

That's a standard Monday header, though there's precious little to wrap....  But after a little min-vacation from the keyboard, there's lots with which to amuse ourselves.

It's An Honor Just To Be Nominated - 'Tis the season for lists, and this one could well prove to be my personal fave:

The best, dumbest and most nauseating golf Twitter spats of 2018

Great, though I'll need a bigger blog..... The mash-up graphic is good as well:

And he starts strong:

Justine Reed vs. the haters

While she denied any knowledge to Golf Digest of tweeting out in defense of her husband from the @JustineKReed account on Sunday morning of the Ryder Cup, we have a sneaking suspicion that the account does in fact belong to her:

Maybe it's the fact it's her name and a picture of her, or the fact that all 14 of her tweets are in defense of the Masters champion. Just a hunch. While all her replies are entertaining (check them all out here), the most notable spat came that Sunday morning in France, when she added fuel to the fire regarding the Reed/Spieth split:

Well, we may never know for sure who's behind that account....

This concisely sums up  another worthy nominee:

Peter Kessler vs. literally anyone, anywhere, at any time

There's lots of fun memories, and the entire threads allow anyone that missed the stories to catch up. This last one won't have a long shelf life, but for some reason brought the biggest smile to your humble blogger's face:

Brandel Chamblee calls Dustin Johnson's drive in Hawaii the best shot in golf history 

Brandel deserves his own list of Twitter spats, but for time's sake, we'll go back to the first real #GolfTwitter debate of 2018. It all began on January 8th following Dustin Johnson's win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, a victory that included, in Chamblee's opinion, the greatest shot in golf history:

I still think he must have been trolling us with that list, though I for one never saw Sarazen's shot.

Dylan Dethier submits his list of wildest golf controversies, and helpfully breaks his nominees down into the following controversy groups:

1. SLOW PLAY DIVISION
2. RULES DIVISION
3. PATRICK REED DIVISION
4. AMATEUR GOLF DIVISION
5. FANS GONE ROGUE DIVISION
6. GOVERNING BODIES DIVISION
7. TV TAKES DIVISION
8. MOMENTS OF RAGE DIVISION

Let me just offer a moment of gratitude, because that's what motivates me to the keyboard every morning. Though the absence of a Phil category is curious....

I thought our coverage of all things Patrick was exhaustive, but Dylan adds a minor detail that I'd missed:

And the winner is… 

1. PATRICK REED’S EXTENDED FAMILY vs. U.S. RYDER CUP TEAM — You’d better read this one to make sense of it, because it involves a series of nuclear tweets from Reed’s wife, Justine, calling out U.S. team captain Jim Furyk. That led to a New York Times interview where Reed furthered the controversy. And somewhere further down the line came Justine’s mother lashing out on a GOLF.com article with the zinger “you are fat look like a frog,” which has really stuck with me.

Fat like a frog?  That's awfully good, especially since a Reed relative calling anyone else fat is so schadenfreufalicious....

 The competition for Best in Show will be vicious, as this winner from the first category shows:

And the winner is… 

1. MAN vs. FINGER – During a pace-of-play “disagreement” at Southers Marsh, a (clever and underrated, actually) course just outside of Boston, a golfer bit off a fellow golfer’s finger. Bit it off! Three need-to-know things from the news report: 1. The man pled not guilty. Not guilty! Bold. 2. Witnesses described the sound as crunching “like a Dorito.” 3. Believe it or not, “alcohol was involved.” Talk about things getting out of hand (ducks).

 And who can forget this Oedipal tale from LPGA Q-School:

And the winner is… 

1. MOM’S FOOT vs. NOSY NEIGHBOR — Every golfer is looking for an edge at Q-School, and Doris Chen appeared to get exactly that when her ball was discovered in bounds after a wayward tee shot. But then a local homeowner reported that Chen’s mother had kicked the ball back into play! On some level, I guess you have to respect the loyalty — but in golf, subtlety is key. Chen was DQ’ed.

Who among us hasn't on occasion been embarrassed by their mother?  

Joel Beall goes another direction, one I'm unable to support with the same level of enthusiasm:

Tiger, "Big Mama" and a firefighter: The 15 best feel-good golf stories of 2018

I have to begrudgingly admit that this one is cute:

Family affair

Lara Tennant, 51, won the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur this fall in Vero Beach, Fla.,

knocking off Australia’s Sue Wooster in the 18-hole final, 3 and 2. But Tennant gained attention not for her win but who it was shared with, as her 78-year-old father, George Mack Sr., was her caddie for the event. “It’s been such a blessing to have him here, and it’s amazing to share this experience with my dad,” Tennant said. “That was a joy, but also so helpful, because we hit the ball about the same distance, especially with our irons, so he clubbed me perfectly."

Cute story, but am the only one that finds it unnecessarily hurtful to remind her Dad of how much yardage he's lost?  Or am I a little hyper-sensitive on that subject?

Rickie, We Hardly Knew Ye -  As you may have heard, Rickie Fowler hit the big 3-0, celebrating with The Big Wiesie:

This week's Tour Confidential panel takes on the enigma that is our Rickie:

1. Despite just four PGA Tour wins, Rickie Fowler has long been one of the most beloved players on Tour. And where has the time gone? Fowler, who last won at the 2017 Honda Classic, celebrated his 30th birthday on Thursday. While you could argue that time is running out for him to win a major and pile up more victories, there’s plenty of evidence of pros hitting their second gear in their 30s (Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Zach Johnson, to name a few). Will Fowler follow their lead and save his best for his 30s? 

Josh Sens: Fowler has had a very nice career up to now. I expect it to continue in the “very nice” department, with some wins sprinkled here and there, possibly a major, if many things fall into place. But I’m not expecting a different gear.

Jeff Ritter: I think Peak Rickie will always be that ‘14 season, where he top-fived in all four majors. He still flashes in majors here and there, and he could certainly improve his win rate (only four victories in nine seasons so far) if he keeps putting himself in contention in his 30s. I think he’ll win a major at some point, but if you figure he’ll win 5-6 times in the decade to come — which feels optimistic — the odds are still probably against it. 

Michael Bamberger: I think his 30s will be even better than his 20s, and his 20s were excellent. There’s no device that can express how bullish I am on Rickie!

Hmmmm, Mike, care to make it interesting?   He's not quite in Charles Howell territory, but four wins is awfully disappointing, especially after the tease of that Players Championship finish.

There was also this interesting follow-up question:

2. Speaking of Fowler, which major-less player will finally bag their first in 2019? (Congrats to Mr. Bamberger, who claims he’s a poor predictor, yet a year ago in this same space correctly picked Patrick Reed to win a major in 2018. Bamberger picked Reed to win the British, not the Masters, but we won’t nitpick.) 

Sens: Ahem. If it please the court, I would like to note that I had Reed not only to win a major but to win the Masters. If I’m ever right again, it will be only the second time. I like Xander Schauffele to break through this year.

Dethier: In current form, Bryson DeChambeau is the best major-less player; I think he’s got the best chance to break through. Taking a peek further down the board, I’d expect cult hero Eddie Pepperell to contend at Royal Portrush in the British Open. 

Shipnuck: It’s gotta be Fleetwood! He’s playing at such a high level and was right there at the last two U.S. Opens. 

Bamberger: It’s gotta be Rickie! He’s playing at such a high level and he’s been right there several times over the past half-decade! 

Ritter: Fleetwood almost feels too obvious, doesn’t he? I’ll go against the chalk: Give me Leishman to win the British at Portrush. Even in a slightly down year, Leish hung in the top 20 all of 2018. Feels like he’s due for that next breakthrough. Now that this pick is in, look for Tommy to beat Marc in a playoff…

Kind of endearing how all in on Rickie Mike is, though I suspect that train has left the station....  But really, in the immortal words of William Goldman, nobody knows anything.

Singh For Supper - Those Confidentialistas take on the Veej settlement, with most of them getting it:

3. Vijay Singh’s long-running lawsuit against the Tour (a.k.a. the Deer Antler Spray suit) was finally settled last month. “It was good for both sides, I guess. I’m glad it’s over,” Singh told Michael Bamberger. “It lingered on and on and on and it’s nice to just finally have it behind me. The PGA Tour has always been a great organization. It was just a [PED rule] that didn’t pan out. Everybody knows about it, I’m glad it’s over.” What are your thoughts on this exhausting case finally coming to a close, and do you think either side learned anything from it? 

Sens: “Deer antler spray” made for some good punchlines but the case itself also inspired some more serious and fruitful reflection on what sort of perceived and actual violations were worth going after. 

Dethier: I guess I re-learned that Vijay is not one to let something go. But I still feel like there’s plenty more we still don’t know about how the Tour approaches its disciplinary processes. And I also still don’t have a sense of how pervasive PEDs are on Tour, deer antler spray or otherwise. 

Ritter: The Tour has to settle, or else the details of its drug-testing program (including a list of players who tested positive before it began publicizing punishments about a year ago) would’ve been laid bare in open court. The Tour never wanted that to happen, and I’d guess that’s why it cut Vijay a check. 

Shipnuck: Yes, it’s a tragedy it got settled because the courtroom testimony woulda been soooo juicy. 

Bamberger: Exactly. Vijay’s pockets are deep, but the Tour had a bottomless pit for a legal defense fund. I guess it had to go this way. What a shame.

I get the inevitability argument, I'm just disappointed that we'll never know what's in those files.  Jay Monahan has shown enough to make me optimistic that things will change moving forward, but only at the margins.

Say It Ain't So, Charlie - The Forecaddie with the news:

The Forecaddie was a little choked up watching Charlie Rymer’s farewell on Sunday’s “Morning Drive.” For six years, “The Big Timer” always brought huge energy at hours

when The Man Out Front was barely waking up. But the Tennessee-born, South Carolina-raised Rymer confirmed he is departing the morning talk show for a scaled-back Golf Channel role in 2019. 

Rymer said he’ll next be seen on April’s Drive, Chip and Putt Championship. He plans to relocate to Myrtle Beach, S.C., with wife Carol to play some golf, fish and focus on charity work for his favorite causes: junior golf and military veterans. 

“It’s been a wonderful run here, you guys are going to make me cry,” Rymer said at the conclusion of Sunday’s “Morning Drive” as he thanked the “hard-working men and women on the crew” along with his colleagues.

Shack had these words of praise for the Big-Timer:

Having had the privilege to work with (and needle) Charlie, I can’t speak highly enough about his knowledge and passion for the game. Furthermore, watching him work and sound-out a segment was always a joy in person, and I’m not sure golf fans realize just how astute of an observer he is. Happy TV trails my friend!

Choking up seems a bit overwrought, but Charlie was a fun presence on the show, not that I tune in all that often.  

See y'all tomorrow?