An uneventful trip West yesterday, so let's catch up on anything we might have missed.
Premiere Stuff - Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this ongoing story is the effectiveness of the blackout on the major golf websites. The only chinks in the armor that I've noticed are references to Rory and Phil's reactions, but otherwise you'd hardly know that they've gone to the mattresses in Fortress Ponte Vedra Beach.
So, a few more items for your consideration, including Jay Monahan hinting at the dark money behind this competing Tour:
Hmmmm... Saudi money and Jay is "Drawing a line in the sand." I see what you've done there....
Of course, as a sophisticated consumer of golf news, you're thinking that this is an ironic week to be be dissing the Saudis. Shack with the tip-in:
Presumably, Monahan is highlighting the likelihood that the loathsome Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is involved, and that players would essentially be taking a form of dirty money. Certainly a huge consideration in all of these machinations.And yet, as the European Tour returns to Saudi Arabia this week, it should be noted that several top PGA Tour members are playing thanks to releases from the PGA Tour.
Without going too far into that cul de sac, we have Eammon Lynch on this subject:
Eamon's Corner: In Saudi Arabia, golfers claim to ‘grow the game’ while padding their bank accounts
The folks at Golfweek use this picture of the golfer we love to hate, though it's actually a far more nuanced situation:
I love bashing the guy as much as anyone, but a quick word in his defense. Patrick is actually a member of the European Tour, which I think is great. As a member, he has to play in the required number of Euro Tour events, and obviously has to make it work within his schedule. Just saying that he's got slightly better reasons to be there than just the obvious appearance fee grab.
This Morning Read item trots out the S-word:
Top Americans competing in this week’s controversial Saudi International on the European Tour justify their participation as a contribution to “growing the game” worldwide. That’s nonsense.
What they’re really doing, knowingly or not, is contributing to the “sportswashing” of Saudi Arabia.
“Sportswashing” is a term used to describe efforts by a nation to disguise and divert attention from its unsavory reputation by hosting high-profile sports events. It’s a tactic commonly used by countries that violate human rights.
OK, I see your point. So it's like taking the Olympics to Beijing? That's different because, shut up.
But why is everyone so down on growing Golf in the Kingdom, as I think these numbers will surprise everyone:
GolfAdvisor.com lists 13 golf facilities, comprising 225 holes, in Saudi Arabia. At least five courses feature sand fairways and sand greens (known as “browns”). Roughly 5,000 players are registered with the Saudi Arabia Golf Federation.
Wonder what the browns stimp? The good news? They might be Sergio-proof....Win-win, baby!
Of course naming names is part of the fun:
The roster of Americans competing in Saudi Arabia includes Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed – the latter no doubt looking forward to a heckle-free week, expected since such disruptions would embarrass the hosts and be dealt with harshly. The first category of eligibility for the Saudi International includes the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, 14 of whom entered. (Tony Finau withdrew on Jan. 23, citing family reasons.)
Do Saudis heckle? Isn't that a fun thought to ponder, as images of beheading snuff videos come to mind... Of course, Bethpage could learn from their alcohol policies..... I think it's awfully silly to offload these issues onto professional athletes, especially when the sportswashing comes sanctioned by the European Tour.
Back to the PGL, in which our Shack envisions a touching scene between Nurse Ratched and protegee:
I’m picturing a quaint scene down in Ponte Vedra Beach. Former Commissioner TimFinchem, his reddish-brown-blond hair having turned grey in retirement, sitting in a wicker chair, sipping vino as his replacement Jay Monahan stops by one afternoon. The mentor knows what’s up: Monahan needs advice on how to handle the Premier Golf League.“How’re your girls?” Finchem asks.
“They’re smarter than I am,” Monahan says. “They would have seen that adding more and more tournaments, even if it meant begging Guy Boros to play despite being retired for ten years, was a terrible idea.”
“What about this Premier Golf League business?”
“I’ll handle it.”
“I never wanted this for you,” Finchem says, weepy. Now remember, ''Whoever comes to you with this Premier Golf League meeting, he's the traitor, don't forget that.”
If only the current predicament were so cinematic.
I think it's good fun... Anything that exposes the hypocrisy of our leaders is why I get up in the morning.
But rubber, meet road:
The PGA Tour declined to publicly comment on reports of a potential new tour that is attempting to woo the game’s stars last week, but in a detailed letter sent to players on Monday Tour commissioner Jay Monahan outlined the circuit’s thoughts on the new tour.In the letter, Monahan said the Tour has not been in contact with officials from the Team Golf Concept, which has been publicly identified as the Premier Golf League. The commissioner also made it clear that the league’s proposed 18-event schedule would be a direct conflict with the PGA Tour.
“The schedule for the Team Golf Concept is designed to directly compete and conflict with the PGA Tour’s FedExCup schedule, and to not conflict with [and would be in addition to] the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open Championship,” Monahan’s statement read.
Players are limited to three conflicting event “releases” under the Tour’s current regulations and the letter references “strict enforcement of the Conflicting Event and Media Rights/Release rules.” The letter also warns players that under Tour regulations “a member cannot have a financial interest in another player,” which is one of the fundamental features of the Premier Golf League’s team ownership concept.
Lest there be any confusion, Jay makes the it quite clear:
At last week’s player meeting, Monahan outlined “significant increases in prize money and comprehensive earnings over the next decade [on the PGA Tour]” as a result of new media rights deals and other revenue streams. He also appeared to draw a tough line for any players who may be interested in the Premier Golf League.
“If the Team Golf Concept or another iteration of this structure becomes a reality in 2022 or at any time before or after, our members will have to decide whether they want to continue to be a member of the PGA Tour or play on a new series,” Monahan wrote.
I don't know how they scale that wall.... They can't lock up sponsors without player commitments, buy players won't commit unless and until they see the money in the bank.
But not only are they taking on the 800-pound gorilla, but let me point to that reference to the majors above. The PGA Tour is already touchy on the subject, because they don't control any of the events that folks care about, an odd position for the must prestigious tour on the planet. So, good luck drinking their milkshake....
Brian Wacker breaks the Golf Digest embargo (they've carried more stories than Golf Magazine or Golfweek), and has some hot takes:
Most players Golf Digest spoke to on Tuesday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open think it would be difficult for Team Golf Concept to get those commitments and that the league’s formation is a longshot at best. “It’ll never happen,” said one member of the tour’s player advisory council, citing the aforementioned reasons as well as skepticism surrounding its financial backing.
But here's the potential bombshell, buried deep in the piece:
And yet changes could be on the horizon. According to one source, Monahan had a conversation last week with McIlroy and Rickie Fowler about the potential new league, during which he expressed his concerns about the sustainability of the status quo for the PGA Tour in the long term.
As you know, that's been my mantra for decades now.... I'm a profound skeptic on the value of all these sponsorships, but it's shocking to hear that come from Jay's mouth.
I'll just add that we've all been wondering about the acceleration of the renewal schedule for the Tour's TV packages and streaming rights, and I'll speculate that this might be a factor as well.
Mission Tokyo - As you might be aware, the golf calendar is a bit crowded, so it comes as little surprise (at least to me) that players are considering their options. For instance, this guy:
Dustin Johnson, the world’s fifth-ranked golfer, said he isn’t sure the Tokyo Olympics will fit well into his schedule, assuming he qualifies for what will be a very competitive U.S. team of four.
“Obviously representing the United States in the Olympics is something that, you know, definitely be proud to do,” he said when asked if the Ryder Cup and the Olympics are goals this year. “But is it going to fit in the schedule properly? I’m not really sure about that, because there’s so many events that are right there and leading up to it. So you know, I’m still working with my team to figure out what’s the best thing for me to do.”
The schedule isn't quite as crazy as in 2016, when the John Deere was contested the same week as the Olympics. But Tokyo isn't exactly around the corner, either.
But, admittedly off-topic, did this guy just break news:
Johnson did qualify for the Rio Olympics but withdrew a month before the Games, citingZika virus concerns as other golfers did.
“This was not an easy decision for me, but my concerns about the Zika virus cannot be ignored,” Johnson said in a statement at the time. “[Wife] Paulina and I plan to have more children in the near future, and I feel it would be irresponsible to put myself, her or our family at risk.”
To the best of my knowledge, DJ has never made an honest woman out of Paulina, so we'll just consider that more fake news.
Then there's his fellow Bash Bros.:
“It just all kind of depends on how you feel, how your body feels,” Koepka told reporters. “To me, the four majors are definitely more important for me. The FedExCup, too. That’s a goal of mine. We’ll see where everything else falls.”
OK, I'll mark you down as a maybe....
Before leaving this topic, let me revisit an item I had you on Monday. In this week's Tour Confidential, the guys were asked about that new golf tour, and Alan Shipnuck had this reaction:
Alan Shipnuck: This is the most boring idea I’ve ever heard. It’s basically 18 Hero World Challenges — except Tiger might not play in any of them, or only a few. There are already too many mediocre golf tournaments out there, we don’t need more!
Alan, you had me at hello. But riddle me this, if the PGL's events, with the best 48 players on the planet is the Hero World what, pray tell, is Olympic Golf with no more than thirty world class players (and not even the top thirty)? Alan, you may recall, is an Olympic golf fanboy, and I just don't get it.
Wasted Away - I've long ago made my peace with this event, which is just fine as long as it remains a one-off. But there is one unappreciated aspect to the week, the rather strong field for the Monday qualifier. This and the Honda usually are the toughest, because of how many tour pros live in the 'hood.
Adam Schupak interviews a number of the players on their feelings about No. 16, with mostly predictable results:
Chesson Hadley“Is it up there with the Super Bowl and the Masters? No. But it should be.”
Joel Dahmen“If you have a friend with good tickets, yes, but it’s too hard to get in.”
Harold Varner III“It’s the greatest hole in golf. You have to experience it.”
Adam Hadwin“I’m Canadian so I usually go with a hockey reference. It’s like being in a hockey arena from end to end and then they’re right on top of you.”
Patrick Rodgers“It’s one of the rare occasions where you feel like a pro athlete.”
Aaron Baddeley“I read it was Top-10 bucket-list for people over 50 so it must be true.”
Peter Malnati“The shot itself isn’t stressful. It’s the one place where we as players get to feel like we’re playing in an arena. It’s so stinking cool. Players feed off the energy of the crowd and vice-versa.”
Bo Van Pelt“You’ve got to see it once. It’s the closest thing in golf to what other athletes have to deal with every time they play.”
Of course, there's always a dissenter:
Marc Leishman
“If you don’t mind being around a lot of drunk people and waiting in ridiculously long lines to get a drink, I guess so, but it’s not for me.”
So, why are you there? You too could be in Saudi collecting a large appearance fee....
Alan, Asked - They dropped the most recent Shipnuck mailbag feature during the day on Friday, which is really sub-optimal for our blogging schedule. I really need it earlier in the week when things are slow, but do they care?
It's far from his best effort, though he does start strong:
Will beefed up Bryson be inside top 50 OWGR at the end of the season? #askalan – @ullijohns
No, and, alas, he won’t be in top 50 in Fortnite, either.
Though getting "huge" might be more beneficial in Fornite than in his day job....
I'll beg to differ with him here:
What’s the right distance for 13 at Augusta? – @cpfolds
Last year it played at 510 yards, which is obviously too short. There needs to be much more risk built into the second shot, which means longer clubs, not the 8-irons we’re increasingly seeing. But it has to remain tantalizingly in reach, tempting players with the chance at glory. So let’s err on the side of caution at move it to 550 yards, knowing Augusta National has more room to make it longer if need be.
I just don't know that they can clear the dogleg from 40 yards further back.... I'd actually rather play it as a Par-4, than tinker with one of the best and most dramatic holes in golf. I would rather see longer irons in their hands, for sure, but it's a full 90-degree dogleg.
#AskAlan Is Tiger being overhyped going into ’20? I think he is. – @TheTexasSteve
Of course he is! He’s Tiger F’ing Woods. He was overhyped in the mid-90s and has done nothing since that would diminish the hyperbole. At this point you can’t fight it: every time Tiger tees it up Fanboy Media will hyperventilate over every twitch and Old Man Media will closely scrutinize his play. To quote one of the great philosophers: it is what it is. But Woods’ play at the Presidents Cup was a reminder that he is still the best golfer in the world. If his body feels right and the course setup is favorable he can win anytime, anywhere. How can we not be excited about this wondrous final act to an incomparable career?
Ask me in August.... Pure stream of consciousness, but Tiger might be the most curious thing about the PGL (and I probably should have noted this above). Tiger is a complete non-starter for these guys, because he'll never sign on for 18 non-major events. So how do you get this thing off the ground without the only guy that moves the needle.
Which would you rather see…. Tiger win #83 at Torrey Pines where he’s had so much success and put on a legendary performance in the ’08 U.S. Open OR Tiger come full-circle and win #83 at Riviera where he made his PGA Tour debut at 16 years old? #AskAlan – @djlettieri
I’ll take Riv, where it all began, and also because it’s such an iconic golf course and Tiger’s career will somehow feel incomplete if he never wins at Hogan’s Alley.
Apparently neither guy has actually seen Tiger play at The Riv, where he's ;lucky to make a cut.
Realize you were just a teen when Jack won his last major, but what is your favorite memory of him, on or off the course? – @rob4golf
Watching the Masters telecast with him last year was a blast, and I’ve been lucky to have a few other long sit-down interviews with Jack, who is not only a good talker and great thinker but so generous in his appreciation for scribes; he ends most interviews by saying,”I hope you got what you need” — and he means it. But one moment I think about a lot is a quick exchange we had at the 2000 U.S. Open. He was talking about putting and I asked him if, during his heyday, when he faced a longish birdie putt he was trying to make it or just cozy it down for an easy two-putt. He looked at me incredulously and said,”I always tried to make it. I still do.” He went on to say that he has so much confidence in his short putting he was never afraid of the comebacker. Then he dropped this bomb: “I used to go the entire West Coast swing without a 3-putt.” Of course this is impossible on the soft, winter greens of the seaside courses and then the slick surfaces in the desert. But Jack meant it! In his mind he really never missed a putt. That insight has always stuck with me: the best players are so good in part because they think they’re infallible.
As for a favorite on-course moment, it’s definitely the 1998 Masters. On Sunday, Big Jack started off with a birdie binge to improbably thrust himself into contention, at the age of 58. I was standing right behind the 7th green when he flagged his approach shot. It was one of the loudest roars I’ve ever heard on a golf course. Jack’s playing partner Ernie Els was just laughing and shaking his head. I had a perfect view when Nicklaus made the birdie putt … and winked at Ernie. What a legend.
Just some great memories of a class act.... But, you know, I don't doubt for a minute that he might have gone the entire West Coast without a 3-jack.
This is way too much attention to a Westy, but perhaps you'll pay it greater heed than I did:
Dear Alan, will you finally, finally admit that Lee Westwood was & still *IS* the BPNTWAM? Up to #29 in the world, two impressive wins in the last 14 months & a dark horse for Augusta… surely qualifies him as an ‘active player’ regardless of his age!? – @mocyling
It’s an intriguing question. I have long maintained that a key criteria to being considered the Best Player Never To Have Won A Major is the sense that said player is on the verge of that tantalizing breakthrough. Otherwise, you’d have a few guys holding that title for years and years after their primes. In the last five years, Westwood has contended at only one major, the ’16 Masters, where a pitch-in for eagle on 15 on Sunday put him in the thick of things … and he promptly 3-willied the 16th hole to eject himself. Westy’s ball striking has always been world-class but an inability to hole the key putts (think of the 72nd hole 3-putt at Turnberry) has been killer at the majors. Given his recent play, and lack of consensus for who currently holds this dreaded title, Westwood now belongs in the BPNTHWAM discussion. But I can’t make him the only one because is there any reason to believe his breakthrough is coming now, as opposed to any of the previous three decades during which he won a tournament?
Let’s give Westbrook some encouragement!!! Can he (finally) win The Open Championship??? (Reminds me of the excitement in seeing Darren Clarke’s win.) – @RLMGrandpa
Well, this is the counterpoint: if Darren Clarke can rise from the abyss and win a major, literally any fortysomething of a certain standard has a chance. It’s kismet that the Open is returning to Royal St. George’s, the site of Clarke’s improbable victory. Given the longstanding friendship between Clarke and Westwood, the golf gods are certainly on notice.
Hello friend, Lee Westwood has 44 professional wins … 2 of them on the PGA tour. IJP has 17 professional wins… and 1 on the PGA tour. Does this speak more to the level of talent on the PGA Tour, the European Tour, or something else??? Would these doods just have been good pros in the U.S.? – @FakePoulter
And let us not forget Colin Montgomerie’s oh-fer-America in his, ahem, Hall of Fame career. Westwood is a particularly interesting case because he broke through with a win in New Orleans in 1998, when he was only 25, during a season in which he won six other times around the world. It was the perfect moment to commit to the PGA Tour and see how deep he could take it but Westwood never did, basically settling into a schedule in which he’d play the majors and WGCs and make a few other cameos Stateside. He is a very English lad and simply felt more comfortable being at home and enjoying the camaraderies of the European Tour. Marriage/kids kept him over there and it would be a dozen years until Westwood won again in the U.S., in Memphis. In the mid-aughts, as his marriage was ending, Westwood set up a homebase in South Florida for three seasons, coinciding with a long winless streak. He’s remains at two PGA Tour wins in 236 PGA Tour starts, though in fairness they’re heavily weighted to the best tournaments. There is zero doubt the fields on the PGA Tour are much deeper than in Europe, and they should be: the feeder systems include the KFT, LAT, Canadian Tour, PGA Tour China, NCAA and AJGA! If Westy and Monty had played full-time in the U.S. they both would have enjoyed very good careers … but they’d definitely have significantly fewer worldwide wins.
Westy is a better player than Darren Clarke, for sure, but not as good as Monty.... Ironic that the worst of three snagged a major, but so did Ben Curtis, Shaun Micheel and Andy North (twice).
But Westy sure coughed up a few (Torrey as well as Turnberry), and who can forget Monty at Congressional and Winged Foot.
Since Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Tiger has won the Tour Championship, The ZOZO Championship, The Masters, moved back into the top ten in the OWGR and also captained the winning Presidents Cup team. Will you be voting for President Trump in November? #MTGA – @BobEstesPGA
A better question for all the die-hard Republicans on Tour: would you vote for Elizabeth Warren if it guaranteed Tiger would win four more majors, thus securing your long-term personal financial interests? I honestly don’t know how the Tour rank-and-file would vote on this.
There was a Make Tiger Great Again meme back then.... Alan may not know for whom the Tour players will vote, but I do. If you'll just think back to Robert Conquest's First Law of Politics, the answer will become clear.
See you tomorrow?
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