I am starting to feel a little better, thanks for asking. If not quite back to human, then at least humanish...Just a few small items, focusing on the amusing side of our game. My objective is simply that, if you enter Ctrl-F and type in Patrick Reed, you will get zero hits.
Popcorn, Popped - Hank is made as hell and won't take it any more:
Hank Haney is suing the PGA Tour for damages after the cancellation of his radio show earlier this year, he announced Wednesday. The suit claims that the Tour “improperlyintimidated, enticed and threatened Sirius XM…to suspend and ultimately terminate Haney’s radio broadcast.” The action came after Haney made a series of dismissive, racially-charged comments about the LPGA tour.
Haney, best known as Tiger Woods’ former swing coach, argues that the PGA Tour was not party to the agreement between him and Sirius XM and alleges the show’s cancellation was just the latest example of the Tour interfering with his business ventures. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, makes the claim that the Tour was responsible for suppressing sales of Haney’s book, The Big Miss, for the cancellation of both his Golf Channel show The Haney Project and his radio show on SiriusXM.
In a release, Haney’s legal team cites “revenge” as a motive for the Tour and writes that “the only obstacle he faced was a PGA Tour bent on seeking revenge for Haney’s 2012 truth-telling book.”
Do tell, Hank. This Golf Digest piece delves a little deeper into Hank's allegations:
According to the documents, Haney, 64, is seeking damages "for the harm the PGA TOUR caused when it improperly intimidated, enticed and threatened Sirius XMRadio, Inc. (SiriusXM) to suspend and ultimately terminate Haney’s radio broadcast on SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio station." Haney claims the Tour has "long attempted to disrupt and interfere in Haney’s business," most notably regarding the release of his book, "The Big Miss," a tell-all from Haney's time as Tiger Woods' swing coach."At the time of the release in 2012, as the substantive content of the book became public through previews, the PGA Tour induced both 'PGA Tour Superstores' and 'PGA Tour Shops' to cancel previously placed orders of The Big Miss," the lawsuit asserts. "Upon information and belief, the PGA Tour further induced smaller shops to back out of their preorders for the book."
Haney also alleges the Tour forced the Golf Channel to discontinue his "Hank Haney Project" TV show on the network and SiriusXM to terminate Haney's business relationship. According to Haney, these actions have cost advertising revenues that "would have amounted to millions" over the life of Haney's agreements.
Who doesn't love a cat fight? Especially with the Big Cat sitting in the wings....
On the one hand, it's hard for me to conceive that the Tour would care sufficiently about Haney to take the actions alleged. But, on the other hand, there is one guy that's known for holding a grudge, just ask Abe Ancer, and the Tour has been known to be overly solicitous of his thoughts.
But this is no time to concern ourselves with the merits of the case, as all this blogger wants for Christmas is full-blown discovery.... Should be good fun.
Let's remember the eerie prescience of Hank's prediction:
The transgression: immediately before the LPGA U.S. Open, Hank admitted he did not follow women’s golf and, when pushed to forecast a winner, said he could only guess that the winner would have the surname “Lee,” the surname of six golfers in the tournament, all ranked in the top 100. Indeed, the eventual winner was Jeongeun Lee.
Excuse me, where are those layers and layers of fact checkers. The winners name was Jeongeun Lee6, the 6 actually proving Hank's point, as politically incorrect as it may be.
2019 In Full - It was an OK year, but no better than that in my book. But others disagree... For instance, Alan Shipnuck from his weekly mailbag:
Will the 2019 calendar year in golf rank as one of the most memorable years in golf history?#AskAlan -@GoranBarnes
Tiger’s Masters victory automatically elevates it to highly memorable. The Solheim Cup pushes 2019 to another level. So does the deep feeling, and indelible images, of Shane Lowry’s victory at The Open and the incredible play and sportsmanship at the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The Presidents Cup nudges 2019 further into rarified air. Brooks at the PGA Championship, Rory’s breakthrough at the Players, the superb run of J.Y. Ko — yeah, it was a helluva year.
Wow, did you live the same year as I did? You cite Rory's Players, whereas I can't get the image of his opening tee shot at Portrush out of my mind.... And how do you mention the Prez Cup without noting he who must not be mentioned today? Brooks? Golf Channel replayed the final round from Bethpage last night, and it was quire the dreary affair. Alan seems too young for rose-colored glasses, and we'll have more on that in a bit...
Dylan Dehtier and Sean Zak take a different approach, setting up this match play bracket for the year:
Is that a kidney stone of a year or what? And that's without including the fat boy with the shovel....Although, you know, sand.....
It's pretty bizarre, but I'll let you experience it for yourselves.
And for those that truly have too much time on their hands, we have the twenty-one (yup, though with some category errors) top rules issues of the year, many of which you'll have either forgotten or never heard of. Here's a sample:
Good times.
But riddle me this, Batman, how do you do an exhaustive review of 2019 rules imbroglios and not include Billy Mayfair? Dylan Dythier's similar piece only includes five examples, and yet Billy appropriately leads:
5. Billy Mayfair
The penalty: Mayfair, tied for the lead on Saturday of the Invesco QQQ Championship, ran into two separate rules issues in just seven holes. On No. 11, Mayfair conducted a lengthy search for his ball, which he eventually found. On No. 17, Mayfair’s ball moved six inches after he addressed it with his wedge, but his explanation to the rules official was misleading, according to Golf Channel broadcasters. Two potential penalties.
The verdict: Strap yourself in: First, when Mayfair got into the scoring area after his round, he was shown what happened on No. 17 and acknowledged that he had in fact caused the ball to move. Then the volunteer scorer called in, adamant that Mayfair had taken well over the allotted three minutes to find his ball back at No. 11. After reviewing the footage, the search was determined to have taken 4:50 or more. As a result, he had played what was technically an “out-of-play” ball. DQ!
Notable because: Double rules conundrums. Changing stories. Volunteer call-ins. Second-guessing announcers. And of course, the two most dramatic letters in the game: DQ. This one had it all.
Just remember, golf is a game played by gentlemen.... Billy put the lie to that with his incredibly malleable accounting of two incidents.
Choosing the golfer who behaved most poorly in 2019 is incredibly difficult, given how many worthy candidates there are. But Billy should be proud of his performance and, really, it's just an honor to be nominated.
You'll guess Dylan's winner, but I think he misunderstands the significance:
Notable because: Even if it had just been the two strokes, this would have been relevant — Reed ended up losing the tournament by just two strokes, after all. Instead, it took on a life of its own. Because the Presidents Cup loomed, because Patrick Reed was involved, because it involved accusations that included the word “cheater,” which always raises alarm bells in the golf world.
Errr, not really... What's notable to this observer is when the guys reveal themselves to us... In this case, it was the man who much not be named's reaction. Apparently my lyin' eyes are unreliable narrators, and I shouldn't trust them any longer. Good to know.
More Alan - Some quick hits from that mailbag:
We hear a lot about the role of the captain in team events. There’s a lot involved: player and vice captain selections, pairings and singles lineup strategy, coaching, inspiration, psychology, course management, etc. What did Tiger bring to his first captaincy? -@Konocomment
The cult of personality. The players on his team love and idolize Tiger and were deeply determined to win for him. He didn’t do everything right — picking Reed was certainly a disaster. In fairness to Tiger, he couldn’t have known a cheating scandal would erupt the week before the Cup, but Reed always represented a high degree of risk. To keep doubling-down on Reed when he was playing poorly and seemingly affected by all the bad juju was a display of stubbornness by Tiger that hurt his team. Still, I liked that Capt. Woods had the steel to bench his buddy Bryson as well as DJ, the second-highest ranked American. His singles lineup came up aces. He did enough to win, which is what matters. In the final analysis, the emotion that Tiger displayed, and evoked in his players, is what we’ll remember about this Cup.
What I'll remember most is Tiger's play, as well as the fact they he once again looked us in the eye and lied about his physical condition. In a friggin' exhibition.... To me that's Tiger's career in a nutshell.
But when it comes to captains, I'm old school like that Watson guy... It's about twelve players, not pods.
But perhaps this one sheds a little light:
Fess up: Weren’t you choking up a bit watching Tiger seeking out people to hug? Like he was making up for lost time? -@Ronjfitz
I wasn’t quite choking up but I was certainly moved. Kyle Porter had a perceptive tweet that captured the moment: “Tiger’s life has been weird as hell, and I think he’s genuinely enjoying what a lot of us figured out in high school or college: That all the achievement in the world isn’t worth much if you don’t have a good community to share it with.” For most of his career, Tiger erected a fortress around his inner-self. When golf was taken away from him he was left to rattle around an empty mansion, with only his trophies and Call of Duty for companionship. In this final act of his career it has been quite meaningful to see him connect with his colleagues and other folks in the game.
But really, just a little. He had that at Stanford, so it was a choice, not something forced on him.
Has the PGA Tour’s habit of Jaywashing inconvenient deviations from its carefully scripted propaganda program reached a tipping point? -@Lou@TireWorld
That was one of the takeaways from the Reed fiasco: When the Tour fails to police the players then mob justice will prevail — on Twitter or in the gallery, or both. Unfortunately, the Tour has staked its entire business model on selling “perfect gentlemen.” To not only acknowledge misbehavior but to discourage it with public suspensions would force the Tour to admit that some of these guys are not, in fact, always good. Tour brass simply refuses to go there, which is creating this weird dynamic where fans are frustrated by the lack of accountability and taking it out on the players…who would probably prefer a short suspension so they can enjoy the good P.R. of the inevitable comeback tour.
I do like the term, but this obviously predates Jay. It's really tiresome but, I think more importantly, counter-productive. I actually do think most of the guys are gentlemen, and that Billy Mayfair, Sung Kang and Shovel-Boy are notable exceptions. And public shame is exactly the method to promote proper behavior.
Whose Presidents Cup performance has you most excited for their 2020 season? #AskAlan -@EthanZimman
I’ve been a huge Sungjae fan going back to this year’s L.A. Open, when I watched him shape shots at Riv and we shared a ridiculous amount of Korean BBQ in K-town, so I can’t pick Im because I was already excited to see how he builds on his ROY campaign. I’m gonna go with Justin Thomas. He never got it going in the majors this year but it feels like he’s ready to explode. With Spieth’s slump, Reed’s woes, and DJ’s malaise, Thomas needs to step up and become the elite American who pushes Koepka. After his breakthrough 2017, Thomas has played quite well over the last two seasons, but I want more from him.
Alan, that's just a bizarre answer. Jt has been held back by injuries in the last year or so, but did you happen to notice his bizarrely poor Sunday singles match. JT could definitely be an alpha dog, but nothing that happened in Oz changes our perceptions of him.
Sunjae Im is an obvious answer, but another answer is Ancer... He, see what I did there? I'd also add Tony Finau, just because if he ever develops confidence with the putter, there will be no stopping him. Assuming, of course, that the confidence is justified.
If Royal Melbourne was a golf course in central Wisconsin or the NW would we be complaining about the lack of rough and all the short par 4’s? -@fakePoulter
Perhaps. It is clearly way too short for the modern professional game, but that’s not Royal Melbourne’s fault — every course that currently exists on this planet is also too short. It still presented a fascinating, artful test and looked great on TV. Unlike, say, Erin Hills, it played firm and fast, and unlike, say, Chambers Bay, the greens were utterly pure. But I’m interested in your citation of the lack of rough as a bad thing — that made the course play tougher, because balls could roll (and roll and roll…) into the fiendish bunkers and off the shoulders of the greens, leading to some hellacious recovery shots.
I was gonna label it a category error, because those sandbelt conditions can't be found in Central Wisconsin. Except, it so happens that you can.
In theory, there is clearly room for the PGA Championship to occasionally go global and play it at a highly regarded place like Royal Melbourne. But is there *really* room for it? The $$$ factor tells me no way. #AskAlan -@DannyLawhon
Well, the PGA Championship is run by an organization called the Professional Golfers Association of America. It has a constituency of 27,000 pros, and the flagship tournament is where many of them gather. It was the former boss of the PGA of America, Pete Bevacqua, who first floated the idea of taking the tournament global. We spoke at some length about it and the biggest pushback he got was from PGA pros who didn’t want to miss out on the annual chance to network and host friends and clients. Since the PGA brass essentially works for the pros, you can’t overstate how important the membership’s voice is on this issue. What makes the most sense to me is move the World Golf Championship out of the bustling metropolis of Memphis when the summer schedule is utterly slammed and take it to Royal Melbourne every December. This would be a highlight of the season and also lure more top players to the Australian Open, a proud tournament that deserves stronger fields.
Excuse me Alan, but your evidence that the PGA of America brass work for those 27,000 members is what exactly? Have you talked to any of those members, because nothing the brass works on, think Frisco, seems to benefit the dues-paying members.
Is Patrick Reed the biggest villain in golf history? I guess I can’t think of another player with such a dreadful public persona. -@SteveThomsonMN
Mid-90’s Colin Montgomerie was so much fun to mock because he was the perfect caricature of the huffy, puffy Brit. But, really, his biggest offense was getting mad at a blimp and/or destroying the U.S. at the Ryder Cup. John Daly trashed plenty of hotel rooms and was involved in innumerable controversies but he was so open about his demons that many (most?) people wound up rooting for him. There have been plenty of players through the years who were prickly or anti-social or just not very nice but that doesn’t rise to the level of villainy. For now, I think Reed reigns supreme as the baddest of the bad guys.
Hagen? Poults? There simply has to be a better answer to this great question, though I'm drawing mostly a blank.
When can we expect a sequel to The Swinger featuring a caddie, his petulant boss, and unruly fans? -@JKnox_59
I continue to hector Bamberger about this. It’s going to happen. It must. A pudgy antihero with some dark secrets sounds compelling. I’d like to go deeper on the Will Martinsen character — he’s a quirky fellow with a lot of baggage! Perhaps we have a golf-obsessed President who, prior to taking office, lured Will into some shady financial transactions involving a golf course development in Moscow. We could have a hot-blooded Spaniard with anger-management issues. A lanky American superstar with a wandering eye. We could delve into the shady underbelly of Jupiter life. The possibilities are literally endless.
Alan must be in a bubble somewhere. He didn't get the memo that the Russia stuff is no longer operative, so he needs to replace Moscow with Kiev.
Player of the decade? -@Jesserdodson
It’s an easy call: Inbee Park. Rory would be the second choice.
I'm cool with Inbee.
Alan Goes Deep - It's fun every once in a while to deal with a piece about which I am clueless. Actually, that universe is undoubtedly larger than I realize, so let's talk about one in which I recognize said cluelessness.
Alan got this odd question for his mailbag, and the Golf.com gang spun it off as a stand-alone column:
Here's his lede:
In terms of age, I fall more or less in the middle of this spectrum. By training, my journalistic sensibilities are Old Mannish. My snarky social media usage definitely skews Fanboyesque. Somehow I stayed out of the recent crossfire, I guess because I have a foot in both camps.
These are certainly interesting times in the golf media. Like the rest of you, I was wildly entertained by all the Twitter trash-talking but it was also awkward because I’m friendly with all of the protagonists and value their different voices. It was an illuminating episode because what spilled out into the open has been brewing for a long time.
He goes on at length, and it's really well worth your time. As a golf insider, it's interesting to see his reaction to the No Laying Up crew, and the changes to the journalistic landscape.
I just find it somewhere between comical and ironic to be discussing journalistic standards at a time when real journalists seem committed to beclowning itself on a daily basis. It's a profession that seems desperately in need of our respect and praise, though unwilling to act deserving of it.
I totally get that sports journalists are inherently compromised, and I'm OK with that as long as they're not completely in the bag. Alan, I've always felt, does a pretty good job of straddling that fence. No doubt the media world is crumbling around them, and at least Alan tries to sort through the underlying issues.
Have a great weekend and I'll see you somewhere down the road.
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