Anyone have any further questions for Brooks?
The man that gets no respect, except for the fact that pretty much everyone picked him to win this week:
On a sunlit Thursday, proof was on the scorecard as not even big, bad Bethpage Black could get at Koepka, who busted up the 7,406-yard behemoth on Long Island in the first round of the 101st PGA Championship.
The closest Tiger got to Brooks all day.
Continuing his Wanamaker Trophy supremacy, Koepka began defense of the title he won last year at Bellerive in St. Louis with a course-record, 7-under-par 63 to stamp his name at the top of the leaderboard. Without a bogey on the card, Koepka became the first in tournament history to record a 63 in consecutive years and is the only player with a pair of 63s in PGA Championship history.
“Never been this confident,” said Koepka, the world’s No. 3 who is looking to win his fourth major in his last eight starts in the four biggest events in golf.
And his score could have been lower. Just ask Tiger Woods, his playing partner.
“I think that was probably the highest score he could have shot today,” said Woods, who came home with a 72. “He left a few out there with a couple putts that he missed. But it could have easily been a couple better.”
We were only allowed to see the last few holes of said 63, but it didn't seem that he worked up much of a sweat...
OK, I guess technically not everyone picked Brooks, though this guy made his bed:
On Golf Channel’s Live From recap show on Thursday evening, Chamblee admitted theround had hit home for him. “Under the situation, playing alongside Tiger, I couldn’t come up with a better round I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I’ve been flipped off a few times in my life — probably not as often as you’d think — but I felt like he was giving me the finger for 4.5 hours today.”
What's 4 1/2 hours in dog years? It's awfully early for triumphalism, especially with a weather forecast that looks especially tough for today's afternoon wave....
Joel Beall has some interesting data to back up the challenge that Koepka laid down for those 155 guys:
Long as it may be, the emphasis is on accuracy and approach, challenges Koepka answered on Thursday hitting 64.2 percent of fairways and 14 greens. And when he doesmiss the fairway, Koepka’s angle of attack is so steep—Trackman measured his 6-iron at -9.0 compared to the tour average of -4.1—that its effect is mitigated. Power may be an asset, but it's far from the only tool in his box.
"(Bethpage) tests every asset of your game," Koepka said. "You've got to drive the ball straight. It's long, so you've got to hit it far and really position yourself with some of these shots in. You can't miss, you can't take a shot off, and that's what I love.
That steeper angle of attack would seem tailor made for U.S. Opens and PGA's..... I'm thinking we might see him do well in those events.
Confidentially Speaking - The Golf.com gang was asked for their biggest surprise of the day:
Jeff Ritter: This week Bethpage was never going to punish players like it did during its two U.S. Opens, but I never thought it would surrender a 63. Brooks really put on a show.
I'd say that no one did.... well, except this guy. It's early days and the course might still firm up a bit, but we also had a 64 and a gaggle of players under par.
LKD has a good one, though even he knows it won't age well:
Luke Kerr-Dineen: Everyone who doesn’t say Chez Reavie has clearly gone mad. Half the people here can hit the ball further than him! Reavie averaged 267 yards off the tee on Thursday and couldn’t reach two of the greens in regulation, yet he was so accurate that he finished the day ranked 9th in SG: Tee-to-Green and T-4. I can’t foresee him being able to sustain this kind of play, but give credit where it’s due: he scrapped his way to a damn good round.
Can't last, but glad for him to get some credit for hanging tough.
Sean Zak: Okay, I’ll bite. Danny Lee being three strokes better than the non-Koepka field is shocking to me. It’s only 18 holes, sure, but six deep at Bethpage in a major is wicked good and I didn’t think he had that in him.
No one did, Sean. Words is that Danny has found some speed lately, but holding up for three more days seems a big ask.
Jessica Marksbury: Tiger’s roller-coaster round. I know questions have been swirling about the state of his health and general preparedness, but man! I didn’t think he’d be nine strokes back after Day 1.
Yeah, Jess, who could have seen that rust coming? Nine back is stark, but he was three back after his first hole....
Dylan Dethier: Tony Finau’s shirt — his whole ensemble, actually. The guy looked like a modern art exhibit. Nike’s golf gear is really getting out there, and I kinda dig it.
We might circle back to this....
Care for a little Point-Counter-point?
Jonathan Wall: Opening with 72 doesn’t knock you out of contention, but I really expected more from Rory on Thursday. Hopefully that birdie on the last will get him going. Majors are a lot more fun when he’s firing on all cylinders.
Alan Shipnuck: How about Rory McIlroy not making a birdie til his very last hole? This big, brawny course should set up perfectly for him but Rory continues his confounding performances in the majors. Sigh.
To which one can only react, Alan you ignorant slut"
Alan Bastable: Rory rolling over in the majors no longer qualifies as a surprise (fun fact: he hasn’t made a U.S. Open cut since 2015). That we got through 18 holes without any major fan disturbance was unexpected, especially with Big John wheeling around in a cart — thought for sure someone would help themselves to a ride.
We'll certainly come back to that last thought below...
To me the biggest surprise was the number of drivers hit on No. 18.... Guys were mostly banging out there, though some sick birdies from those fairway bunkers (talking 'bout you, Jordan).
Tiger Scat - Upon further review, perhaps some reps to get back his feelz mights have been a good idea:
The mistakes came early and often for Tiger Woods Thursday in the first round of thePGA Championship. Drives missed the fairway. Wedges flew the green. Short putts didn’t fall. April’s spectacular steadiness gave way to May’s ugly uncertainty, and after five hours on the golf course, Tiger was a stunning nine shots behind playing partner and leader Brooks Koepka.
The Masters this was not. Tiger’s dream of winning a second consecutive major title is not officially over, but it’s not exactly alive and well either. Back to reality, everyone.
I don't get much right, but do you happen to remember yesterday's comment about those starting on No. 10 in their morning round? Tiger made a quick double there, which is all too easy to do.
Mike Bamberger informs that it's all part of a master plan:
1. Are you trying to make us feel better?
Dude — you did the very thing you said you would not do! You said, and we semi-quoth from Book of Tiger I: If you drive it in the rough here [BPB], you gotta take your medicine, pitch it out, pitch it on, try to make par and bogey at the worst. We can semi-relate! As the saying goes, Ixnay on the ouble-day. (#nodubs4tdubs, etc.) So you started on 10, drove it in the rough, pitched out, pitched over and made…double. Shock city! We appreciate that you’re trying to be more relatable, but that was too much.
Most Tiger fans with whom I'm acquainted want to worship the man, more so than relating to him....
But there was a strange tendency to expect Tiger to dominate, which mostly makes me wonder whatMasters they watched. For instance, Shipnuck's mailbag had this question:
Does Tiger win by 10 or 15? #AskAlan -@JimOShea4
Alan's response was nicely topical:
I’m not sure which set of fans are more obnoxious, Tiger or Thrones. And I say that affectionately, because all the hysteria that surrounds their respective performances is part of the fun. A vintage Tiger blowout would be epic, and great fun to watch. But Bethpage is so tough, and the cost for making a mistake so high, I think we’re going to see a bunched leaderboard. It will surprise no one if Woods is at or near the top late on Sunday.
I'm not a GoT guy, but good work. Thing is, I don't really think that Tiger can run away from these guys any longer, and any wins will come like his Masters victory.
Like Brooks, he should expect a windy second round. here's the hourly for Farmingdale:
And even a potential stoppages of play...never good for a bad back.
A Great American - The circus is in town:
Daly is navigating Bethpage Black in a golf cart, which he applied for (and was granted) through the Americans with Disabilities Act. He hates riding, he says. He’s only doing
How dare you think golfers aren't athletes! it because the arthritis in his knee is unbearable. He’s been chastised for the cart, too. Nick Faldo isn’t a fan, and Tiger Woods made a joke about it. Daly said on Tuesday he wished others had all of the facts before they commented, adding he’s been “bashed pretty good” for the wheels. He was worried about fan backlash, but that concern proved unwarranted Thursday.
But Thursday didn’t unfold without a few bumps in the road, as Daly became the first pro to take a cart in a major since Casey Martin at the 2012 U.S. Open. The Black Course is walking-only for the public, so there’s not much in the way of existing cart protocol. The PGA supplied Daly with a map of suggested routes, but navigating isn’t easy with ropes and slopes and tens of thousands of fans. After putting out on the 10th green, Beem and Yang waltzed through the roped-off walkway from the green to the 11th tee as dozens of phones popped up to capture Daly coming through. They waited… and waited.
“Where’s John?” one teenager said to no one in particular. While his playing partners exited the green left, Daly had been forced to retreat to his cart to the right. By the time he got to the wheel, drove around the green and parked at the 11th, Beem had already teed off.
Well, the sideshow in any event.... yanno, the tattooed lady, the sword swallower and Long John.
Did you catch the pants?
Obviously the folks in the Bronx were not consulted... I'd guess Mets pants today, then don't let the door hit you on the way out.
I stand with Eamon on this subject:
The 1991 PGA champion is the first golfer to compete on wheels in a major championship since Casey Martin qualified for the U.S. Open in 2012. Martin has Klippel-Trénaunay syndrome, a debilitating and incurable condition that could eventually lead to amputation of his right leg. Daly has osteoarthritis in his knee, a wear-and-tear injury common among veteran golfers. Jack Nicklaus had it. So too did Tom Watson. Both had hips replaced. Neither requested a cart so he might compete in a major.
There is a huge difference between Martin using a cart due to an incurable condition and Daly using one for a treatable ailment. That’s not to suggest he isn’t discomfited. Each time Daly dismounted his cart there was obvious evidence of a bum knee, but also a crummy health regimen. The cart had a cup holder for his large McDonald’s diet coke, but lacked an ashtray for his ever-present cigarette.
C'mon Eamon, don't harsh the narrative. A degenerative medical condition is just like being a fat, lazy slob....
Bethpage Blues - Talk about narrative fails, the PGA of America is crowing about the brilliance of grabbing Bethpage from the clutches of the USGA. However, there's one teensy-weensy problem... to wit, that the guy who seized the opportunity is no longer welcome in polite society:
For that, thanks are due to Ted Bishop, who is as responsible as anyone for this championship being here, for the Ryder Cup coming in 2024 and for the Black remaining as a place where pros rave about the experience.Bishop was the PGA of America’s secretary, in line to be president, in September 2010 when he met at the park with state officials. The U.S. Golf Association had given up on Bethpage after two rain-drenched U.S. Opens. The PGA Tour had yet to hold its two FedEx Cup playoff events there (which turned out to be poorly attended).“The future of championships at Bethpage, at the point we started talking, was obviously in doubt,” Bishop said from The Legends, the club in Franklin, Indiana, that he runs, serves as head pro and now is superintendent, too. “I knew about the concerns that everybody who loves Bethpage had, with funding and maintaining conditions going forward.”
Despite the USGA having pulled out, Bishop chose to dive in. His confidence was confirmed during a practice round for the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales, when he was on the 18th fairway with Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler. “Just out of the blue,” he said, “they started talking about Ryder Cup venues and Phil says to Fowler, 'Can you imagine the home course advantage that we would have if they ever played this Ryder Cup at Bethpage.' "
Bishop sealed the deal in 2013 when he was president. He envisioned the excitement of this week.
Ain't life a kick in the head?
I'll admit that I wasn't a big Ted Bishop fan in his day, as he seemed something of a blowhard. That said, I've developed more a respect for him after he's become a non-person, as I hope others have.
One thing that I absolutely underestimated at the time was that he actually ran a golf facility and could relate to those 29,000 members. Compare and contrast to Seth Waugh, who has met only those PGA professionals lucky enough to ply their trade at Seminole and The National.
I've been reliably informed that majors at The People's Country Club is sheer brilliance, there's no shortage of red flashing lights. First, Joel Beall on the early week at Black:
On Tuesday and Wednesday, many of the holes boasted more volunteers than spectators, a sight especially true on the remote part—holes six through 12—of the property. A beverage vendor mentioned sales were "about 30 to 40 percent" off from their weekly forecast. And a fan noted on the fifth hole, “It’s more crowded out here on a normal Saturday.”
The weather hasn't been great for sure, but still.... Surely the tournament rounds will draw the masses:
Hmmmm...... Per Geoff, the market is in free-fall:
A study of StubHub showed $6 prices Wednesday morning. Surely that would not happen again Thursday?
Despite Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka going out early in absolutely perfect first round weather, the resellers were giving tickets away again for round one. The Forecaddie says by sometime around 9 am, the price had dropped from a low of $16 to $6, not including handling fees (around $6). Large chunks of tickets were available for prices in the single digits.
Prices are higher for the remaining three days, but well under the $110 face value for general admission.
In February, the PGA of America touted robust, near-sellout situation, then CEO Seth Waugh touted a boost to sales after Tiger’s Masters win.
He was still crowing about that yesterday.... What do you think, $4 without Daly in the field?
About That Shirt - Did you see it?
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — On Thursday at Bethpage Black, Tony Finau wore a black-and-white striped shirt. But this wasn’t just any ol’ striper. This was an optical illusion. Awork of contemporary art. Tony Finau looked like a Sol Lewitt exhibit. Like a geometrically-inclined zebra. Like one of those Magic Eye drawings, where you squint until you see something else. Folks, the last time this many White Stripes clashed, the band broke up for good.
To review: The front of Finau’s shirt (a version of the new Nike Polo) was mostly a uniform black-and-white stripe. But on the right sleeve, it switched, right at the seam, to a different black-and-white stripe, with more white than black. That lighter pattern ran through to the middle of his back, where the stripes clashed and collided, creating a vertical split bisecting his back.
Finau’s hat was split in half, too: The left side red-orange, the right side black. When he walked straight ahead, the split ran down from his head all the way to the bottom of his shirt. The whole thing felt optically confusing. Importantly, Finau couldn’t see most of this. Not the stripe in the back or the stripe on his hat. That was for us, the viewers, to behold.
The funny thing is he was paired with Poults and Billy Ho, and when you out-crazy those two sartorially-speaking, and intervention seems mandated.
Enjoy the weekend.
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