Just a few quick items, then I'll let you get on with your day....
Heads, Exploding - You know people won't be able to just let this be, but we have Mikey Bams on the scene:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — So there they were, in the Rose Garden on a perfect spring evening, the two most famous golfers in the world, Donald Trump and Tiger Woods, occasional golf partners and occasional business partners, of a kind. No, not like WarrenBuffett and Charlie Munger. But when Trump, then a real-estate developer and reality-TV celebrity, wanted to name a building for Woods at Trump Doral, Woods was there, cutting a thick yellow ribbon. That was in 2014. And when Trump wanted to give Woods the highest civilian honor a president can bestow, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Woods was there again. That was Monday night.
You’ve heard of good-good in match play? This was good-good on an epic scale, Jim Acosta of CNN providing the post-game analysis, unless you were watching on Golf Channel or Fox News or C-SPAN. On the front page of the Monday paper, The New York Times had a pre-game story, and it was understandably political.
Should we try to do an impossible thing here, and leave politics and “optics” and historic precedent aside for a moment? (A person can dream.) The event itself, not even a half-hour long, was spectacular. It showed Trump at his best. The ad-libbed shout-out to Joe LaCava, Woods’s caddie, for instance. And it showed Woods at his best, or his off-course best, to be more accurate. His voice going quiet for a few passing moments, to cite one telling moment, as he tried to express his gratitude to his late father and living mother, as she sat in the first row, next to Melania.
And to think that I had been reliably informed that caddying was a job Americans won't do....
Shack took great pleasure in this fact:
But there were no representatives from the Golf Establishment, even if Trump mighthave craved their presence. In other words, no Mike Davis (USGA), no Jay Monahan (PGA Tour), no Fred Ridley (Augusta National), no Seth Waugh (PGA of America). Woods controlled the invitation list to a significant extent, and he wanted it to be a friends-and-family event (his daughter and son were on hand), plus some key employees. In addition to LaCava, Woods’s agent Mark Steinberg was there, as was his spokesman Glenn Greenspan, his wingman Rob McNamara, and some key people from TGR, Woods’s company and educational foundation.
It's about what I would expect with Tiger controlling the invites. Those aren't the folks with whom Tiger would want to celebrate, and why would they be? Though I agree with Shack that this seems to be an unforced error:
Trump made only a passing reference to Woods’s significant charitable works, and Woods made none at all — a lost opportunity, but there were multiple agendas at work here. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, was sitting practically behind McNamara, in the back row. So, yes, this was a TV show, as everything in modern public life is. Also among the 100 guests were Mike Pence, Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, Mitt Romney and Lindsey Graham. No IDs necessary.
Strange, that.
My opening jab above might have seemed harsh with no context, but one needs to look no further than Pravda to understand. This is their take on the award:
WASHINGTON — Ever since Tiger Woods arrived on the public stage as a golf phenom at the age of 21, Donald J. Trump has been cultivating him as a celebrity who could add a sheen to his properties around the globe.
After Mr. Woods won his first Masters title in 1997, he celebrated in Atlantic City at the Taj Mahal casino, eating pork chops and being photographed with the owner, Mr. Trump.
Since then, Mr. Trump has named a villa after him at the Trump National Doral Miami. He has also gone into business abroad with Mr. Woods, announcing in 2014 that the golfer would design a course in Dubai as part of a luxury residential megaproject that would be managed by the Trump Organization.
Wow, that is some righteous investigative journalism there, guys... hope you've got a spot for the Pulitzer. Just a thought, but perhaps you could place it in the spot currently occupied by that Walter Duranty Pulitzer. The Paper of Record in fake news since the 1930's...
Of course, critics might note that the failure to identify exactly how many pork chops were involved is journalistic negligence, but they only have two reporters in the byline. You know where they're going, but here's their rousing, if unsubstantiated, accusation:
“Tiger Woods is obviously a very talented golfer,” said Aaron Scherb, the director of legislative affairs for Common Cause, a watchdog group. But Mr. Trump awarding him the Medal of Freedom “shows he’s willing to use any tool of government to benefit his business and political allies.”
Are they going for a violation of the Emoluments Clause? They've become so predictable and tiresome, it's a wonder anyone reads it any more.
Brooks Explains - I don't actually think we need an explanation, as nursing grudges has been his MO for a couple of years now:
As for Chamblee himself? Koepka hasn’t forgotten any of a laundry list of perceivedslights. During the Masters, Chamblee ripped Koepka for his recent weight loss by suggesting that the 29-year-old lost the weight for vanity reasons. It has been rumored that Koepka lost the weight ahead of an appearance in ESPN‘s The Body Issue later this year.
“He’s done it a lot, he’s always got an opinion on something,” Koepka said. “And I don’t really respond too much. I know he said a bunch of things at Augusta and I never responded, that’s not really my style.
“But there comes a point where you just don’t care, and like I said, a picture’s worth more than a thousand words.”
All a tad tiresome, for sure, though in Brandel's defense that weight-loss story was both bizarre and unexplained. But this is highly disillusioning:
“I’ve got a group text with a bunch of buddies, there’s about 12 of them. I don’t know who sent it, one of ‘em sent it, I thought it was pretty funny,” he said.
“I sent them the whatever, the tweet, and that was the first one they sent, and I just went with it, man — a picture’s worth a thousand words.”
Passing another's work product off as your own... Shame, Brooksie.
A Personal Fave - I just love Joel Dahmen.... There, I said it out loud, and I refuse to feel any shame over my feelings. he first came to my attention in the matter of Joel Dahmen v. Sung Kang, in which he acquitted himself impeccably. In this age of backstopping, it's refreshing to see a player that understands his responsibility to protect the field. Were I in charge of nominating folks for Presidential Medals of Honor....
Then there was this endearing item a couple of weeks ago:
Joel Dahmen is 'the only idiot in the world' who didn't watch Tiger win the Masters
he has his own little thing with his buddies on Masters Sunday, and wasn't able to accommodate the morning tee times.... Obviously he's never had to considering missing the event because of a Masters invite.... in fact, he'll be playing in his very first major at Bethpage.
Then there's his refreshing candor about playing down the stretch in contention last Sunday:
Was Dahmen thinking about that money down the stretch? “Yes, of course,” he said afterwards. “I had four or five feet for 5 on 16, I’m solo second, I’m aware where that is.”
He made the putt on 16, and he made a tough up-and-down at 17. At 18, he got aggressive with his approach shot — and barely stayed out of the water.
“On 18 my caddie wanted me to play it safe, but I thought if I snuck a 3 in there and Max hit it in the lake, I could come back around,” Dahmen said. Maybe he should have listened to his caddie; his second shot from 210 yards wound up actually on the wrong side of the greenside creek.
Dahmen ended up hitting his chip to about a foot, leaving a kick-in par. Had his ball found the water, it would have cost him roughly half his paycheck. Rickie Fowler, by comparison, finished two shots worse at T4 and made $311,062. The sequence served as a reminder of the slim margins and huge money involved on Sunday afternoons in contention on Tour.
“[My caddie] is over here laughing at me. I had such a huge break, and actually it’s a pretty easy chip there, but I was certainly aware of what was at stake, absolutely. I mean this was my biggest paycheck by $500,000 maybe. I mean, it’s ridiculous what I just won today, absolutely ridiculous.”
That ridiculous sum? $853,200. Not bad for solo second.
I really find it hard to believe that he wasn't thinking about FedEx Cup points.... Though I expect he'll be receiving a phone call from Ponte Vedra Beach.
Then this last bit of video at the link:
Tour pro wins $853k on Sunday, still gets stuck in bad seat on flight home
Employee No. 2 has her Lumpy, and now I've got my Joel Dahmen.....
Wither Rory - Rory turned thirty over the weekend, and John Feinstein has the obligatory State of the Rory piece:
At this moment in his golf life, McIlroy finds himself in a confusing place.
On the one hand, he’s playing remarkably consistent golf. He’s had nine starts in 2019and has finished out of the top 10 in exactly one of them. He has a win—at the Players Championship—and a second at the WGC-Mexico Championship, and has earned more than $5 million. He’s third in the FedEx Cup standings—behind only two-time winners Matt Kuchar and Xander Schauffele—and has moved back up to fourth in the Official World Golf Rankings. Those are all impressive numbers.
Here’s the conundrum: The only finish outside the top 10 was at the Masters, where he never seriously contended and finished T-21, moving up to that spot after a final-round 68.
In his 20s, McIlroy did everything one can hope to do in golf: He won four majors; was ranked No. 1 in the world; played a key role on four winning Ryder Cup teams; became supremely rich and, through the force and charm of his personality, became as popular as any golfer on the planet.
Not a bad decade.
I'm confused as to how John could be confused... Rory's last major was the 2014 PGA, meaning that that "Not bad decade" was really two very distinct five-year blocks. And since the accomplishments mostly came in that earlier period, clarity is available to those searching therefor.
But John seems strangely all in on the lad:
But it’s my belief that he’s too talented and driven—maybe not Woods or Nicklaus-driven but driven—to not start winning majors again soon.
And the Masters will happen for him someday. It might take shooting a course-record 62 on Saturday to build a big lead, or it might take a Nicklaus-like 30 on the back nine on Sunday to come from behind, but I believe it will happen.
Rory McIlroy has been and will continue to be fun to watch. His 20s might have been flawed, but they were spectacular. His 30s have the potential to be even better.
Driven? Is that a word that comes to mind as regards our Rors? Isn't the issue far more likely just the opposite, especially since we assume that he'll be starting a family soon?
And the script-writing is amusing as well, given his disappointing performances playing in Sunday final groups. Couldn't you see him shoot 62 on Saturday, go out with a four-shot lead and go full-Norman in a pairing with Patrick Reed?
The Tour Confidential gang took on this birthday as well:
2. Rory McIlroy, who turned 30 over the weekend, headed into the final round of the Wells Fargo as the favorite to win but shot a disappointing 73 to finish eight strokes back of Max Homa. It was McIlroy’s eighth top 10 in 10 starts this season, but wins have been much harder to come by (his sole victory came at the Players in March). Will McIlroy be more or less successful in his 30s than he was in his 20s?
Shipnuck: Less. Rory used to make golf look so easy. Now it’s often an almighty struggle.
Sens: He won four majors and a Players in his 20s. That’s a lot to match in a career, never mind a decade. Throw in the likelihood that he’ll have kids to distract him, and the growing potential for injury that comes with age — he’ll be hard-pressed to equal whathe’s already achieved.
Ritter: Four more major titles is doable given Rory’s talent — I mean, Koepka’s won three in the last two years — but it’s a big ask. I think one mark Rors could surpass is the 15 PGA Tour titles he won in his 20s. He’ll play more here because he and his family are Florida-based, and if he keeps putting himself in the mix, I think it’ll lead to more Ws.
Bamberger: Most — not all — of the true greats play better and win more in their 30s than their 20s, from Trevino and Floyd to Phil and Watson, to Nicklaus and Hogan. I’m going with more wins for Rory in his 30s, provided he can play a full schedule for the next decade.
Dethier: In some ways I think his game is steadier now than ever. That may mean more top 10s. I don’t think he bags four more majors, but as fun as it is when he’s in the mix, I’d love to be wrong.
Given that the prior five years weren't especially productive, the concept that he'd win more in his 30's seems laughable.... I don't know what Mike is smoking, but I do hope he brought enough to share with the whole class...
I'm going to leave you here. Not sure about tomorrow, as some actual golf might be played....
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