Midweek Musings

Not to worry, we've got more on the USGA imbroglio....  They seem to be auditioning to be the Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of the sports world.  Not a good look for them or our game, but it makes the blogging easy....

Wither Tiger - Egads, heads must be exploding at NBC:

Tiger Woods, who came to own the Arnold Palmer Invitational with his dominance starting in 2000, announced via Twitter he was withdrawing from this week’s tournament at Bay Hill Club & Lodge due to a neck strain. 

While there was some comfort to latch onto – he wrote his surgically repaired lower back is fine and there are no-long term issues – this is a 43-year-old Tiger with a history of serious operations on his left knee and spine we’re talking about. 

Four procedures to his left knee. Four to his back, the most recent a spinal fusion surgery in April 2017. And there was an assortment of other injuries he had to deal with over the years to his neck, Achilles, elbow, wrist. 

Despite his reassurances, the world of golf will hold its collective breath until he’s seen again, possibly in less than 10 days at The Players, the PGA Tour’s flagship event.

“Unfortunately, due to a neck strain that I’ve had for a few weeks, I’m forced to withdraw from the API,” Woods wrote. “I’ve been receiving treatment, but it hasn’t improved enough to play. My lower back is fine, and I have no long-term concerns, and I hope to be ready for The Players.”

Well, we can console ourselves with the fact that Tiger's never been known to understate an injury....  Yeah, right.

This isn't something he just woke up with on Monday:

“I hope he’s OK,” Rory McIlroy told the Golf Channel on Tuesday at Bay Hill. “I saw

him in Mexico [two weeks ago] getting treatment before and after he played and he did have some tape on sort of his upper back, so he was dealing with it back then as well.”

Woods had made no previous mention of his neck as of late, although he did pass on talking to the media twice in his last appearance at the WGC-Mexico Championship. The 14-time major winner did deal with a similar strain last year at the Open Championship, showing up for his first round with KT Tape on his neck. It proved not to be much of a hinderance at Carnoustie, as Woods flirted with the claret jug before ultimately finishing T-6.

Shane Ryan tells us the end is nigh:

I'm no doctor, but I also can't help but notice that the neck is in close proximity to the back, and that the two are both traversed by the spine. I've even heard discussion that problems with one area of the body, even after being repaired, can throw other parts out of whack. Nor, I'm told, do pain and degeneration typically improve with age. 

In short, Tiger's body has been nickel-and-diming him to death for a few years now, and whatever you call his 2018 run—the second summer, the unexpected final bloom—it's now time to at least ask the question if that unexpected stretch was our last chance to see Tiger at something vaguely reminiscent of his former glory. True greatness comes and goes almost before we understand it was there, and just as Roger Federer had come down from his transcendent peak before the wider world truly understood that he was the greatest of all time, so Tiger donned the 2001 green jacket without anyone quite knowing that, by the narrowest definition, his prime had passed.

Mebbe, or mebbe not.  But, at the very least, those that tend towards the wildly optimistic scenarios for Tiger should well understand that his body remains a major concern.  Especially at venues where weather can be a factor....  Just spitballin' here, but Long Island in May, Monterrey in June and Ulster in July all seem to fit that profile.

Those lucky enough to text with the man tell us there is nothing to see here:

McIlroy also said Woods was wearing KT Tape on his upper back. 

“He’s just being careful,” McIlroy said. 

That’s what Woods told two-time major champion Zach Johnson in text messages Tuesday morning. 

“I know that guy well enough to know this is something he’s being overly cautious of, and he should be, because of what is on the table and what’s ahead of him,” Johnson said. “Rest will help, with the proper attention to go with that rest.”

Hey Zach, what's that number you use for Tiger?  It's pretty amazing that he got through last year with no setbacks, so all we can do is hope this is just excessive caution.  It also makes a return visit to Tampa possible....

But as relates to his own life, Tiger has proven to be an unreliable narrator.  So, skip Bay Hill if you must, and wait for his arrival to PVB.  Personally, I'm far more worried about this injury.

Kooch, Take Notes - In mindless mode after dinner, I watched the replay of the Yankees Grapefruit League game, but on commercials flipped to Golf Channel's reruns of their three-part homage to The King.  This cute story fits nicely:

Sounds crazy, but this sort of happened in the Masters more than a half-century ago, when Arnold Palmer captured his first of four green jackets in 1958. Palmer won

$11,250 for that win, yet his check to Nathaniel “Iron Man” Avery for that week was . . . $14,000. Was Arnold Palmer the most generous man ever?

Well, he’s up there, but no, not in this instance. As part of a compelling profile of Avery,Palmer’s caddie for all four of his Masters titles, Ward Clayton in The Caddie Network describes how Palmer’s wife Winnie hastily dashed off a check to Avery in the immediate aftermath: 

“In Palmer’s first Masters victory in 1958, it was the intention to pay a caddie fee of $1,400, but Arnie’s wife Winnie was overcome by the moment and hurriedly wrote a check for $14,000 — more than Palmer’s $11,250 first prize — and Iron Man’s check was later reissued.” 

So Avery actually only got $1,400 for the win, but that was still good money back then—more than $12,100 in today’s money, and still more than 10 percent of Palmer’s first-place check. And it’s worth noting that Avery was not Palmer’s full-time looper since tour players then largely relied on local caddies and the Masters itself waited until 1983 to let players use their regular guys.

Oh sure, put the blame on Winnie!  Joking aside, it's hard to see Kooch's tone deaf comments coming from Arnie, which is the bigger takeaway in my book.

Honda Happenings - I never got around to it, partially because I didn't see any of the Sunday coverage.  We'll therefore use Shippy's mailbag as our weekend wrap:

How disappointed were you when that putt went in? -@IanMDallas 

Only slightly. I love the swagger of this Kevin, er, Keith Mitchell character. And there are few things in sports more thrilling than watching a player – any player – gut a do-or-die putt on the 72nd hole. I was happy to see Mitchell make his. 

With Koepka and Fowler waiting in the wings for a playoff (and Jack Nicklaus staring down from the booth), was that the nerviest putt ever for a first-time winner? #AskAlan -@LudaChris1134 

Well, jeez, when you put it like that! But, Nicklaus himself made the 1962 U.S. Open his first victory, in a playoff over Arnie Palmer at Oakmont no less, so we gotta assume there were some nervy putts along the way. Regardless, all hail Mitchell, at least until a latter-day Adam Long comes along and does something equally spectacular.

New talent has to break through somewhere. and it's not like those two show ponies have made a habit of winning all that frequently.  The instinct is to predict that this will open the floodgates for Mitchell, though I think that actually happens less frequently than Brooksie winning regular PGA Tour events.

Bay Hill Happenings - Upon further review, this query from Sunday night's Tour Confidential is moot:

5. The Tour heads to Bay Hill this week as Rory McIlroy defends his title in a field that’s also headlined by Tiger Woods, who has won their eight times. Tiger or Rory: who ya got?

Cheap, for sure, but I still had the tab open....  To be fair, though, this guy's response holds up well:

Shipnuck: I’ll take the field.

Rock-bottom degree of difficulty, but always a helpful reminder....

I may or may not watch any of the Bay Hill action, but I sure won't let it get in the way of important things like an afternoon nap.   But I'm determined to close that browser tab, so one more unrelated bit from the writers.  We previously had an item in which the Golf.com course raters identified over and under-rated golf courses, and now we have their marquee scribes doing the same:

Zak: I have never played Carnoustie, but walking it for a week at last year’s Open I don’t think I can consider it the 28th-best course in the world. Great test of golf, but that feels a touch high, at large. As for underrated, Streamsong Red feels like it’s right on the edge of cracking that ranking and should be included. 

Bamberger: I’ll flip ya, young Zak. C’noustie underrated, S’song Red overrated. Possible to play the former with one ball. Not the latter, at least not for this 93-shooter. 

Wood: Baltusrol. It’s hard, yes, but I don’t think of any hole on that course and say “Wow.” Underrated? Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz, Calif. A brilliant Alister MacKenzie reworked by Tom Doak. 

Shipnuck: Overrated: Valderrama. Claustrophobic and boring. Honorable mention to Oak Hill, Winged Foot (East), Oakland Hills (South) and Baltusrol (Lower), which might actually be the same course under different names. Underrated: Cruden Bay. How on earth is this gem ranked 77th? The perfect golf course in my book.

Shippy gets the best of this with his jab at thos venerable old Tom Meeks venues....  And Cruden Bay is just a joy to behold.  

Carnoustie as both over and under-rated kind of works.  I try to steer traveling golfers away from that one, though I very much need to get back there myself.  It's so tough and unrelenting, and features little in the way of eye candy, but it least offers an opportunity to test the best players in the world.  It also serves to remind folks that Scotland remains a relatively poor country, easy to forget when one bounces from Edinburgh to Dornoch to St. Andrews.....

We're, make that I'm, completely in stream of consciousness mode, but did anyone catch this cry for help:

Looking a little further ahead, Slumbers also had things two say about the 2021 Open, the 150th, which will be staged outside his office window on the Old Course. Some have expressed concern over the continuing ability of golf’s most famous venue to cope with

the vast distances leading players now propel golf balls with modern equipment. And, in news that will surely appal many traditionalists and historians, Slumbers admitted that the next St. Andrews Open will feature more long grass than ever before. 

“The Old Course can be four or five shots harder depending on where you put the pins,” he said. “But what I am most concerned about is that the Old Course is one of the most strategic of our links courses. There is a way to play the Old Course. There is a way to play it with easy tee shots and hard second shots, or hard tee shots and easy second shots. 

“We will be looking at the course setup and there is some rough beginning to grow that will ensure the strategic nature of the Old Course remains. The importance of making sure you play the strategy properly will be enhanced. But if we get no weather, no wind and plenty of rain, we all know the links course is at the mercy of these great players. The Old Course is no different.”

The strategic nature of the Old Course is, you'll be shocked to learn, entirely one of angles of play and, accordingly, should not require knee-length rough.  remember, we already have multiple tees, including on the iconic Road Hole, being placed on adjoining golf courses.  Because if there's one hole on the planet that doesn't need to be any harder....

Specifically, Slumbers indicated that the rough left of the 17th fairway on the iconic Road Hole will be enhanced in order to force players to the right, closer to the out-of-bounds. The grass on the bank left of the 14th fairway and right of the fifth will also be allowed to grow longer than ever before. 

One hour in, the meeting ended happily on a lighthearted note, with a question regarding the 2021 Open: “Do you think the ultimate nightmare would be a six hour round and somebody putting for a 59 with the flagstick in?” 

There was no answer to that one.

The flgstick in would seem to be the least of our issues....A wise man onec said that Augusta would always be defensible, but not so The Old Course.

Here are Geoff's comments on same:

While most understand the Road hole’s strategy and the visual and angle issues caused by bailing out left off the 17th tee, the R&A has begun adding more rough to “enhance” strategy by offering hack-out rough.

Also do not discount how much gorse has been allowed to remain to “defend” the course, on top of tee boxes on the neighboring courses, something Old Tom Morris worked to rid the place of and which was instrumental in the course’s increase in strategy and enjoyment.

But it’s the notion of taking a shot away from a player, or disallowing a ball to run to a disadvantageous location at the Old Course, that speaks to a special level of absurdity. Particularly given Slumbers’s suggestion that the growing effort has already begun, meaning everyday golfers will have to suffer more for one week every five to six years.

What a bleak and cynical vision for the most important and cherished links, and all so that a few people can avoid doing their job as regulators.

Pretty much.

More Alan -  Back to our favorite leg-humper, and this tip-in:

Why so little love for Vijay? His contemporaries (Love and Couples, especially) get so much more attention/adulation. Vijay basically had both their careers put together, plus he got a late start. And then there’s 2004 – Tiger never won more in one season. Is he that prickly? -@CHFounder 

Never exclude the obvious, to wit, that he's an extremely unlovable character. 

Vijay is actually a sneaky-good interview, on the rare occasions when you can catch him

in the right mood. His high-pitched giggle is one of the low-key pleasures of the golf beat. Alas, his entire career has been marked by a complicated/confrontational relationship with the press, stemming from the murky cheating incident that preceded him to the PGA Tour. (The final word on this subject will always be the John Garrity classic for which he traveled to Fiji.) Let’s face it, Vijay never exuded any warmth or charisma between the ropes. Since he wouldn’t let reporters get to know him and tell his story, it was hard for fans to have a stake in his success, or for companies to want to invest in him the kind of ad campaigns that can shift public opinion. Vijay is one of the biggest badasses to play golf. His run in the early aughts was epic. He may have earned our respect, but it’s largely his fault he has never gotten the love.

Vijay has his friends out there, though it's certainly a minority opinion.  

Alan makes good points, though to me the issue is less the cheating incident, than his lack of contrition over same.  I think we could all understand a young man making a bad decision under tremendous financial pressure, it's just that he doesn't seem prepared to acknowledge same.  So, in a world of attractive and personable players, why bother....

But I offer no disparagement of his career, especially the obscene win total in his forties.

How about three old guys in the top 20 at Honda? Vijay, Furyk, Ernie. And with Phil being successful … are we going to see a 50-year-old win on Tour soon? -@FrazerRice 

Vijay’s run was great fun but I can’t believe he gave up the ghost on the 71st hole when he hit a truly awful shot with a short-iron in his hands and his ball on a tee. To quote Johnny: That’s pressure. Clearly Phil has the best chance to snag a win in his 50s. He’s won two big-time events in the last year and is only 15 months from the big 5-0. In fact, he might be our last hope. The modern golf swing is hard on the body, and Tour players are now peaking earlier and likely to burn-out sooner. Oh by the way, Phil’s 50th birthday comes during U.S. Open week at Winged Foot.

Yeah, a weak field for sure, but those old guys can still play.  

This is a good one as well:

Who will finish their career with more majors, Dustin Johnson or Justin Thomas? -@ZachZola1 

Given that they both currently have one, and that DJ is nearly nine years older, it’s pretty hard not to pick JT. At the same time, I wouldn’t be shocked if Dustin went on a rampage and won three majors in the next two years, or that kinda thing. This would change the calculus dramatically. In summary: I’ll take Thomas, until I don’t.

Just last week we were talking about DJ as an underachiever...  We always think he's reel off a few of the big ones, but he continues to insist on being DJ.

And this on his fellow Bash Bros.:

What are your thoughts on the new(?) outspoken Brooks, publicly taking on hot-button issues and speaking his mind? -@RickyLegumes 

What’s not to love? I agree with pretty much everything Brooks has said during this scorched-earth media tour. So many of golf’s young stars are bland and sanitized, it’s awesome that he’s keeping it real. Along the way we’re all discovering that there is much more to Koepka than just bulging biceps. 

How big would a regular PGA Tour victory really have been for Brooks? How soon before he gets it #AskAlan -@jhen 

Not that big. It remains one of golf’s most curious stats that Koepka, nearly 29, has won more majors than everyday Tour events. You have to think that over the next decade he’ll win a bunch more tournaments; no worries that this Honda Classic wasn’t one of them.

I think the jury is still out on whether Brooksie has anything especially interesting to add, but the "Keepin' it real" cliche should be retired.

 And this follow-up to a CBS item from last week:

Will the Tour or any network ever listen to complaints about the TV coverage? #AskAlan -Ben (@BKBryant23) 

Oh, they’re listening. I recently heard the chilling tale of top execs at CBS haranguing Tour brass about the social media comments of certain media members, which led to them being called onto the carpet. The lesson is that the TV folks, and their enablers at the Tour, would rather shoot the messenger than thoughtfully absorb the critiques and make changes. There is an old-guard that runs all of the golf telecasts, and they have very different sensibilities than the modern golf fans. I’m afraid it is going to take a generational change in leadership for any real improvements to be made.

It makes a reevaluation of Clifford Roberts appropriate, no?  This time of year, especially, I'll recommend this worthy tome to you.  Roberts could be a ball-buster, for sure, but the descriptions of his thoughtful memos to and meetings with CBS personnel demonstrate that his primary focus was on improving the broadcast.  To paraphrase, Mister, we could use a man like Clifford Roberts again.

And this great story from the Wabac machine:

Your best Honda Classic story of trying to get a story -James (@jjcoop007) 

It’s not that juicy, but the 1994 Honda Classic was the first tournament I ever covered as an intern at SI. I was sent there to serve as an errand boy to the great Jaime Diaz. He was working on a story about building “the perfect golfer” – that is, talking to a bunch of players to gain a consensus on who was the best driver, long-iron player, putter, etc. He asked me to help with some of the interviews. I went into the locker room on Sunday afternoon and Nick Price was there packing up. World number one Nick Price. I introduced myself and told him what I was doing and he said, Sure, kid, take a seat. And for the next half hour he waxed poetic on dozens of players. I’ve never forgotten how kind and generous with his time he was. Price nominated Seve as the best wedge player – still! – and told a long story about an impossible shot he once witnessed from the great man. Price punctuated the tale by shouting, “He hit it to d— length, mate. D— length!”

Doesn't that depend, you know, on whose D-?  I mean, were he Jewish, then that's good....  OK, I'll stop now....

Back in Far Hills Liberty Corner - By the way, when did Far Hills morph into Liberty Corner?  And why didn't I get the memo....

The placement of this story in my post tells you all you need to know about my level of disdain, as I'd put a plague on all of them.  Yesterday we discussed Jay Monahan's plea for civility, in which he reminded his independent contractors that the Tour was, in fact, in the room when the new rules were written.  I'm not sure that reflects favorably on their efforts, but that's not my interest just now.

I did not get to this response from JT to being trolled by the USGA, including this that has me all misty-eyed:

“It really hurt me,” Thomas said Sunday after shooting a final-round 71 at The Honda Classic to finish at even par in his title defense. “It was upsetting to me because … the information they put out there was inaccurate in terms of me cancelling meetings, and that doesn’t make me look good, and that’s just when I got a little upset. …

About him being hurt, I'll offer up a sensitive, boo-friggin'-hoo.  But that last bit had me quite curious, because you'd assume that governing body would stay pretty close to the facts, no?  

Thud!  I know you guys expect and deserve the appropriate snark here, but I'm actually profoundly saddened by this.  These people are governing our game, and they're a bunch of friggin' clowns.

Tell me again Mike about how every time you talk to a player about the rules changes a lightbulb goes on over their heads.  Tell me again how after Shinnecock '04, Oakmont, Shinnecock '18, et. al, we should give you the benefit of the doubt.  And no, please don't ask me for another mulligan... you're putting Slick Willie to shame here.

Shall we give that leg-humper one more shot?

It seems an appropriate time to ask: what is the biggest problem in professional golf today? -Clay @TheMrLandon 

At the moment, I’m gonna have to say the USGA’s Twitter feed.

Pretty much.