I thought I'd copy that Shipnuck fellow and open up today's post to the readers... Anything in particular you want to discuss? Oh, that little event in Japan? Curious, but as you desire...
ZoZo Risin' - As early as last Thursday I noted that I didn't see this coming.... Bob Harig agrees:
The journey to Japan was ostensibly about fulfilling corporate obligations, participating in a made-for-TV exhibition and getting in some reps following knee surgery andphysical challenges that dogged Tiger Woods' throughout the summer.
Nobody -- including Woods, if he is honest -- was thinking about a victory, and a record-tying one at that.
I don't suspect that Tiger has any interest in indulging in that level of honesty at this late date, at least not with us... I'll circle back to this point below as relates to another news item.
I had hopes that Mike Bamberger might have an interesting take on the achievement, but he also might not have had much time to file:
Tiger rolled in his 10-footer for a closing birdie, the three-shot win, his 82nd title, aclosing 67. It was subdued, but it was big. This has been, in ways, one of the most remarkable years of his career. The Masters win, followed by a lot of futility. The win in Japan. The Presidents Cup coming up. The baby steps to a reconfigured life. Amazing. “I know what it’s like to have this game taken away from you,” Woods told Todd Lewis of Golf Channel. Yes, he does.
Yeah, a Monday finish on the other side of the world with barely any spectators there, so it's gonna feel subdued. Of course, part of that is the arbitrary nature of Snead's record, inevitable for the era in which he played.
Shack had this comment about Tiger's play, with which I agree:
The Monday finish went much faster than the ensuing trophy ceremony, but even though he came out looking a tad tight, Tiger Woods finished off the 2019 ZOZO Championship for his 82nd PGA Tour win. He is now tied with Sam Snead for the all-time tour victory total and did it nine years before Snead recorded his final win.
I also thought he was moving tentatively, and I caught him rubbing his back at one point. But when he dialed in that short iron on the 13th, I figured he'd be OK (notwithstanding his wipe of the birdie putt).
Dylan Dethier has our required over-reaction:
But now, after a commanding win at the Zozo Championship, it looks like we’re going to get more anyway. Welcome to the Tiger Woods Bonus Era.There’s no question what this week’s win means. This is No. 82, which means that no golfer in PGA Tour history has won more than Woods. This is Japan’s first-ever PGA Tour event, which means golf’s most global star continues to shine brighter. This means we’re guaranteed to see Tiger as a playing captain at the Presidents Cup in December. It means he’ll be a serious threat to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team next summer. More than anything, it means that Tiger still has plenty more left in the tank.
This week in Japan wasn’t some miracle late-career last hurrah. It was a dominant showing from a player in complete control of his game. Woods didn’t win because he needed to. He won because he was, for these four days, far and away the best golfer in a field that included some of the world’s best golfers. He won because he is, as it turns out, still one of the best.
I feel compelled to remind you that Dylan is still so very young... I agree with Dylan that this was an impressive performance, and also with that last bit, at least when he's healthy. But here's where Dylan gets out over his skis:
Tiger Woods is now the owner of 82 PGA Tour wins. But what feels even clearer is that No. 83 is around the corner. It’s all gravy now, of course. This is the Bonus Era. Enjoy it.
Amusingly, Dylan recounts how he said much the same thing after the Masters, yet doubles down here. With age comes wisdom, at least that's what I'm calling it, because I'm so old I can remember when Hillary was inevitable... the first time. Nothing in sports, Dylan, is preordained.
The Tour Confidential panel wants in on this, leading with this interesting conundrum:
1. Tiger Woods won the weather-delayed Zozo Championship on Monday in Japan, which aired in prime time in the States on Sunday night. Woods has now won three times in the last 13 months, which includes victories at the 2018 Tour Championship and the 2019 Masters. His Masters win gave him 15 majors, and now he’s tied with Sam Snead with 82 career PGA Tour victories. Which is more impressive, the 82 wins or 15 major titles?
Michael Bamberger: Really interesting question. If you could only have one, you’d want the majors. He wins majors at the rate he wins non-majors. I guess the 82; SO manyyears with SO many massive numbers of titles. But 15 takes your breath away, too, maybe moreso. But 82 is like 800 home runs. You wouldn’t think it’s possible.
Josh Sens: Both are astounding but Tiger’s reaction today was, I think, a pretty good indication of which he finds more impressive. He smiled and looked pleased. But this was no fist-pump and roar celebration. I wager that he’d trade a dozen or so Zozo Championships for another major or two.
Dylan Dethier: Sens is right. Yeah, the 82 is hugely significant — but this week felt strangely ordinary. Woods used to win PGA Tour events (and Euro events, too) at strange parts of the calendar, in far-off places. This felt like a return to that type of feeling, and a reminder that he’s certainly not dead yet.
Luke Kerr-Dineen: The gold standard in golf is major championships. It always has been, always will be, and always should be. But yes, 82 wins is still incredible, and at a minimum, a testament to how well-rounded Tiger Woods’ dominance has been through the years.
Alan Bastable: Both numbers are exhausting just to think about, but I think I give the edge to 82, mostly because of the consistency and longevity that number demands. Consider the career win totals of other Mt. Rushmore types who didn’t win even half or one-third of that total: Tom Watson: 39, Lee Trevino: 29, Johnny Miller: 25. Eighty-two is just silly.
Ummm, Luke, the focus on majors is actually a relatively recent phenomenon, at least as compared to the long history of our game. While there's nothing wrong with the scribes' answers, I'd suggest that the two records together make the most compelling case. As Dylan hints at, Tiger simply dominated his peers everywhere....
As for the importance of this specific record, we've covered this ground previously:
3. Tiger has spent his whole career chasing 18 — was 82 an important number to him?
Bamberger: Eighty-two never captured the imagination, and still does not, because Snead’s win total changed so often over the years, so no.
Sens: It’s not insignificant. But if Tiger’s own subdued celebration today was any indication, 82 does not exactly top his list.
Kerr-Dineen: Important? Of course. As important? No chance.
Dethier: Maybe not now. But it may matter more as time goes on, because it’s a concrete reminder that he has won more PGA Tour events than any other golfer in history, even as memories begin to fade.
Bastable: He said after his win today that he started thinking 82 was gettable after he reached 50 Tour victories, so it’s undoubtedly a target for which he’s been gunning. But given the question marks around Snead’s record and the sanctity of Jack’s achievement, yeah, there’s no doubt 18 stands above all other figures.
I guess at least now the new standard will be pure, or at least as pure as can be. But I'd much prefer that it be considered a modern era standard, as the sniping at Snead's victory total (and I'm as guilty as anyone) risks diminishing Snead's achievement. It's just really hard to compare across eras, and the same issue applies to majors.
But I guess this is really the question, no?
4. How does this change your expectations for Woods for the 2019-20 season?
Bamberger: He can win anytime he plays if he can make the swing he made in Japan and putt his ball as he did there, too. You can see him contending one time in five. That doesn’t mean he will win, of course. But he could.
Sens: If he stays healthy, he should be right in the mix at Augusta again.
Kerr-Dineen: For sure. I thought Tiger was going to have an uneventful, rusty return, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. Tiger’s coming back hot. His game’s in good shape, and he’ll be ready to roll by the turn of the year.
Dethier: Yes, it does. Tiger is the No. 6-ranked golfer in the world, and at the moment that actually feels about right. That much was not true when we last saw Woods, when he went WD-T37 in the playoffs and failed to qualify for East Lake.
Bastable: Michael’s right. It’s all about Tiger’s putter. It was like old times this week — he seemed to make everything within 15 feet, just willed the ball into the hole. If his putting stays sharp, no reason he can’t and won’t win three more times before the end of August.
I suspect there's a case to be made that this win was the result of a unsustainably hot putter, though it seems silly to focus on the future when we still don't know what the heck happened last summer. Was that all the knee, or did he lose some focus and hunger?
And, of course, this seems a given:
5. After this, Woods has got to pick himself as a playing captain for the Presidents Cup, right?
Bamberger: As Gary Woodland said so perfectly, it’s dumb if he doesn’t. Good for the event, for him, for the team.
Sens: Right. I would not have expected this a few weeks ago but it’s now all but a done deal. Note to self: for once and for all, learn your lesson and stop doubting Tiger.
Kerr-Dineen: There is a zero percent chance Tiger doesn’t pick himself for the team, assuming no major injuries. He’s the obvious pick, and absolutely the right one.
Dethier: Yes. Even better, Woods will have more time to emotionally recover than he did last year in the abbreviated days between the Tour Championship and the Ryder Cup. Forget the captainship, which I find generally overrated. I’m excited to watch Woods take on Royal Melbourne, which should play differently than the Tour courses we see most weeks.
Bastable: Now that he’s playing so well, it would be a truly magnanimous gesture to give his playing spot to one of the kids — Wolff, say, or Morikawa. Tiger has never mastered magnanimity.
Ya think? It's been obvious for a while that it's something Tiger wants to do, and now he can't really be criticized. Though Alan Bastable makes a point that came to me as well, that it would be a grand gesture to further the U.S. Ryder Cup cause to give one of the kids this experience. That said, the Prez Cup is not without its own issues, and the event can use the buzz as well.
Of course, he'll still be on the hook for having most of the team thirteen time zones away from Royal Melbourne the week prior. They'd better hit the ground running, or he'll have some 'splainin' to do....
A couple of brief notes before we move on. First, I quickly flipped to the World Series and apparently missed the most painful awards ceremony not involving Diana "Open Bar" Murphy. Here's a fun round-up of the ensuing social media snark.
Lastly, Shack posts this on winners and losers from the week, though he makes clear that he had to post before that endless awards ceremony. First, the winners:
Gary Woodland – Another strong week eliminated any doubt about a place on the Presidents Cup team and gives the U.S. Open winner more momentum, especially given the notoriously-average putter’s work over Accordia Narashino Country Club’s devilish greens.
Maybe. I'll get my thoughts together on that later this week, since the choices will be made next Monday. I'm not sure he's even an average putter, but I'd sure hate to see both Finau and Woodland picked for that very reason. Plus, boring.
Accordia Narashino CC – The rain totals for round two’s washout varied and got to 10 inches by the final-round telecast. Anything over three in one day would wreak havoc on a non-links course, but somehow the place was playable the next day after modifying one hole to make it all work. An amazing bit of salvation work by the crews and the on-site rules staff.
Well, I thought those second greens made the place look strange, but we can all marvel at and envy their drainage.
ShotLink – Watching a tournament won by Tiger Woods without all of the detailed stats we’ve become accustomed to deprived us of deeper insights into Woods’ stunning iron play and overall performance. It was another reminder how much we’ve grown to value ShotLink team and the volunteers who tabulate the data each week.
I guess I won't be able to check Tiger's SG: Putting for the week, but I'm left to wonder why they played that 140-yard hole as a Par-4. I thought it was for ShotLink, but season-long stats will be tainted with some easy eagles for sure.
And the losers?
Late Night Golf – Watching pro golfers overseas this time of year is always fun for West Coast viewers, but the timing for this week’s Skins and Zozo sounded fun until it ran up against the World Series and start of the NBA season.
Fair enough, but boy did this guy love that Sunday schedule. We got home from an early family dinner just as they teed off, and they wrapped up just before my bedtime. Just perfect!
Of course Geoff is a hoops fan (You do know his Dad, right?), but this seems unnecesary:
WGC-HSBC Champions – This week’s World Golf Championship in Shanghai must follow a remarkable week that felt like a WGC. Maybe a player will tweet his support of Hong Kong protesters to liven up the pre-tournament discussion. On second thought, not a great idea.
Isn't the bigger issue how this event will fare without the Prez Cup issues present? Do all those Captain's Picks wannabees make the trip? And, if so, isn't it the back-to-back-to-back playing opportunities that draw them off their couches? I just don't see the WGC as a loser in all this.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes - Their broadcasts have become unwatchable, so perhaps we shouldn't be quite so surprised at the wholesale changes:
Gary McCord and Peter Kostis, two stalwarts of the CBS golf broadcast team, will not return in 2020. Both faced expiring contracts that will not be renewed.
A CBS spokesman confirmed the news to Golfweek on Saturday and released a statement. “Gary and Peter have been an important part of our golf coverage for three decades. They were both outstanding teammates and we thank them for their significant contributions throughout the years. We wish them both all the best.”
McCord, 71, joined CBS Sports in 1986 as an analyst following a 13-year career on the PGA Tour. McCord handled multiple roles in his 33 years but was best known for calling action from the 16th hole tower along with various late night highlights show alongside former CBS announcer David Feherty. McCord infamously joked that bikini wax was used to speed up Augusta National’s greens, leading to an unofficial ban from Masters broadcasts since the 1995 tournament.
Combined with CBS moving on from Feherty and Peter Oosterhuis' retirement for medical reasons, that leaves only Ian Baker-Finch from the crew we knew for decades.
The key thing to bear in mind is that CBS' contract runs only through the 2021 season. Jay Rigdon at Awful Announcing tries to put it in perspective for us:
It is truly tough to imagine CBS golf coverage without both McCord and Kostis. Themove coming now is also interesting; clearly both men expected to be back, as there was no on-air goodbye in the fall. CBS is also in the midst of bidding for the next round of PGA Tour rights.
CBS has their current rights through 2021, so it’s unlikely this move is the result of a vote of no confidence in their own bid. It could be a move signaling a revamp of their coverage, or at least a willingness to evolve; maybe that’s something the PGA Tour is looking for in the next round.
The guys are at that age, and it's logical that CBS might want to revitalize things before their bid is considered for the longer term. the problem is, well, Jay nails it ever so subtly:
These would not the first two changes most people would choose to make to CBS coverage, but regardless, golf on CBS is going to sound a lot different going forward.
Those would be found in the 18th hole tower....
Kostis issue a gracious statement, though he could resist a jibe on his way out the door:
Finally, I have to say a big thank you to all the announcers I’ve worked with over the years. I believe that the CBS golf announce team is the gold standard. A special shout out to Gary McCord who has been with me every step of the way, (including that infamous 1989 Ryder Cup broadcast team!) and Jim Nantz who has been there for my entire CBS career. To the cameramen, technicians and support staff at CBS I simply say it was a privilege to work alongside you. Bye for now! I’m off to UPS to send some packages!”
Heh! I guess he's happy to not have to work "FedEx" into every other sentence...
Surprisingly, no speculation to be found as to who might replace them on the Konica Minolta Swing Vision gig.
The Tour Confidential panel devoted five of six questions to Tiger, but they did squeeze this one in at the end:
6. Let’s end with a non-Tiger question, shall we? Mainstays Peter Kostis and Gary McCord won’t be returning to the CBS golf team in 2020, as both of their contracts will not be renewed. McCord, 71, joined CBS in 1986, and Kostis, 72, came on in 1992. Good move? Was it time for new blood?
Bamberger: It was time for new blood 20 years ago. Yet the familiarity was comforting.Sens: It was fun while it lasted, and it lasted a long time. A change makes sense.
Kerr-Dineen: Two legends of the game and of CBS, but with the ongoing courting of the PGA Tour ahead of its new rights deal, this was an important message from CBS to the powers that be. Things are getting freshened up for the better.
Dethier: Man, I dunno. I think I was a bigger McCord fan than most, and I thought he made those in-between moments far more entertaining in a way that still felt in keeping with the broadcast. I’m all for freshening up the broadcast, but only if it’s an actual improvement. I’ll remain open-minded, but this isn’t an automatic win.
Bastable: Statler and Waldorf. I’ll miss ’em.
Legends of the game? Obviously laughable hyperbole, but the golf audience is not one that deals with change all that well. As Dylan notes, let's see if it actually feels like an upgrade when replacements are names.
I like Alan's Sesame Street reference, perhaps a first in these pages, though it might have fit McCord and Feherty better.
Magic 8-Ball Says Outlook Cloudy - I have serious reservations on this subject:
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, in an exclusive interview with AFP at the Zozo Championship in Japan, said that there will be on-site gambling options for fans in 2020.
“You’ll start to see product in the market place next year,” Monahan told AFP. “It’s all about engagement. … When done right, it gives fans the opportunity to engage with your sport over a longer period of time and have more interest in what’s happening across the entire player field.”
Noting that sports wagering is legal in many international markets, Monahan says the Tour has “put the right systems in place, both in terms of an integrity … and monitoring activity.”
OK, the key word seems to be "Engagement", which might indeed be a good thing. It's just that when you're "Engaging" with a system design to separate fans from their money, caution would be advised I think.
I do understand that the legal environment is changing, and I'm also open to the logic of the seat at the table in order to control how the gambling is structured, such as Jay's assurance that you won't be able to bet on negative outcomes. That said, Jay seems far too eager for his Vig, and that strikes me as unseemly.... And as I've noted earlier, I'm skeptical that betting on other folks' golf has all that much appeal.
Shack devotes this post to the potential for fan interference, also linking to his piece on the reduction to one year in the Bio Kim suspension:
While Kim was no angel in flipping off a fan whose cell phone went off as he was trying to win a golf tournament and pay his bills, he’s also a victim of golf’s reversal on phones and belief that fans could behave. The sport went from from policing, confiscating or banning phones at tournaments to encouraging fans to become documentarians.Look, we all love our phones and the younger demographic that golf wants to attract will not attend a tournament if they were to be separated from their baby or unable to promote their presence. The same goes for older adults now too. That’s fine. But policing the use of mobile devices near competition must not be solely up to caddies and volunteers to police. Golf cannot be naive to the inevitability that a noisy mobile device could be used to alter the course of a tournament (and therefore, a bet).
I have no idea what the solution is, but an incident in the gambling age seems inevitable. Then there’s the overall look is peculiar and energy deadening to a sport already deprived of fan noise.
It seems inevitable, no? Either that or a bet goes horribly wrong because of backstopping?
But with Tiger dominating the news, I'd like to note a different issue. How do we think those placing losing wagers on Tiger would feel after hearing that he suddenly had knee surgery? Those NFL injury reports aren't so much for the fan, as for the betting public. So, Jay, can you allow the public to bet without a clear understanding of the health status of the players?
I just think it's all a disaster in the making, and a predictable one at that. Perhaps golf can't avoid this entirely, but they seem committed to benefiting from the activity, and that will make them responsible when and if it goes south.
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