I did watch some of the golf, just not yesterday... Football and a ribeye took precedence, I'm sure you'll understand.
Phoenix Rising - This was one of Golf.com's Saturday headers:
Tony Finau on verge of his biggest win yet at Phoenix Open
Of course, it depends on what you mean by "verge".... He had a one-shot lead after 54 holes, which doesn't seem all that vergy to me. Of course, the real howler is that "Biggest win yet" bit, because Tony's brand is defined by his inability to win anything.... Oh, there was that off-field win in Puerto Rico in 2016, but that's setting the bar awfully low.
So, no surprise that he didn't get to the finish line:
Who won: Webb Simpson (two-under 69, 17 under overall; Won with birdie on 1st playoff hole)
How it happened: Tony Finau, who just recently moved to the Phoenix area, held the 54-hole lead at TPC Scottsdale, ahead of Webb Simpson by one and Hudson Swaffordand J.B. Holmes by two. Finau, Simpson and Swafford were in the final group on Sunday, yet there were few fireworks on the front nine. Simpson and Finau combined for just one birdie on the front (from Simpson) and made the turn tied for the lead at 15 under. Simpson birdied 10 to get to 16 under and lead by one, but Finau made his first two birdies of the day on 12 and 13 to re-gain the lead. After Simpson bogeyed the 15th, Finau led by two with three to play. They both parred 16, but Simpson picked up a stroke when he drove the par-4 17th and two-putted for birdie. Both players had birdie putts on 18, and Simpson went first, rolling his in from 18 feet to put the pressure on Finau. Finau had just nine feet to win, but he missed it on the low side, setting up the playoff.
I don't mean to dump on Tony, but this is becoming a thing:
Another close call: Finau’s lone PGA Tour victory remains the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, an alternate event to the WGC Match Play. In the time since, few golfers have contended as often. Finau now has 29 top 10s since that victory — as well as six runner-up finishes.
He just stays relentlessly on-brand....
The Golf.com Tour Confidential panel takes on this popular winner, but in a back-handed manner:
1. Webb Simpson birdied the final two holes of regulation and then birdied the first playoff hole to come from behind and beat Tony Finau at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Sunday. Simpson, 34, now has six PGA Tour wins (tying him with the likes of Padraig Harrington, Henrik Stenson and Stewart Cink), including a U.S. Open title, and also has made three Presidents Cup teams. Yet his game has never drawn much buzz. Is Simpson, ranked 7th in the world, the most underrated player on Tour? If not, who is?
Luke Kerr-Dineen: Underrated? I’m not so sure. Under the radar? Definitely. It’s a subtle but important distinction. Webb Simpson has been hanging around for a while, and golf fans know he’s a solid player. Webb’s record — six wins, including one (and a half) majors and now in the top 10 in the world — does sneak up on you, but ultimately it’s a pretty fair reflection of his ability. Someone like Paul Casey comes to mind as someone who’s classically underrated. He’s had 31 top 25s in his last 45 PGA Tour starts, with two wins, two 2nds and finished 5th in the FedEx Cup last season! He probably deserves more attention.
Alan Shipnuck: He used to be underrated but that became such a thing he might now be overrated! But it’s remarkable what a short-hitter like Webb has been able to do in this era of bomb/gouge. From 150 yards in he has to be the best player in golf.
I can't speak to how others perceive the man, but I love the guy. I wish I could remember the source, but some clever guy once noted that Webby leads the Tour in Strokes Gained: Attitude, a great little quip. I just love that he's managed to come back and have quite a strong second act after the profoundly unfair (to Webb and others) banning of anchored putting. I can't not root for him, especially as you'll never hear the man complain.
Of course, this would be my favorite answer:
Michael Bamberger: I would say he is underrated in the sense that I have NEVER heard ANYBODY who has EVER brought up his name in a general golf conversation. Steve Jones, Scott Simpson and Michael Campbell are in the conversational mix far more than Webb Simpson.
OK, that's funny, not least for the names he dredges up. I think even Mike would admit that the two Simpsons are/were quite a cut above those other two guys.
Josh Berhow: After much consideration, yes. You could go a step further and say he’s also the most underappreciated player on Tour. He’s not flashy and he’s not stirring the pot on Twitter and he’s not leading the Tour in driving distance (far from it) or even showing much emotion. But he gets the job done. He’s off to an outstanding start to the 2019-20 season, too. Could be a big year for him.
Alas, their next question is no more successful:
2. Finau has had a steady career, ascending to as high as 9th in the World Ranking, but despite several close calls — he has had 29 top 10s and six runner-up finishes since his first victory — he still is in search of career win No. 2. If it’s not Finau, which PGA Tour winner is most overdue for another victory?
Kerr-Dineen: It’s too easy — lazy, even — to do the whole Tony-Finau-doesn’t-win-because-he’s-too-nice thing. Finau is an incredible player who time after time puts himself in the conversation. He should’ve won on Sunday; he didn’t through no fault of his own. Sometimes, you’re just unlucky and get beat. He’s overdue for win No. 2, but I have no doubt it’ll come for Tony very soon — maybe even in the form of a green jacket.
Egads, Luke, easy with these predictions. W have the Internet and can fact check your ass, yanno... I think he's on solid ground in expecting Tony to break through, but it's hard for me to understand amping it up to 11 and expecting him to do it at Augusta of all places...
Shipnuck: Adam Scott. (He did win in Australia in December but that ain’t the PGA Tour.)
Wow! I don't feel for Adam the way I do for Webb, because he came up putting conventionally. But he's a guy that hasn't figured it out since the anchoring ban, and did you catch his dispirited act at the Prez Cup? I can't imagine what Alan thinks he sees there...
Bamberger: King Louie. Who swings like he should win every third week.
Why not? After all, we're about to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his lone win... And another guy that looked clueless in Melbourne...
But Josh Berhow goes the other direction:
Berhow: The obligatory Jordan Spieth answer fell right to me, hu? These are all good picks as well, but the fact that Spieth hasn’t won since July 2017 is still just astonishing. It continues to be one of the most compelling stories in the sport. I’m also waiting for Tommy Fleetwood to check off his first win on the PGA Tour. He’s 0 for 62 thus far but has four runner-up finishes.
They're having a lot of troubling letting go of Jordan.... It's not good, guys, and it's not getting any better.
One last bit on their rather famous 16th hole... I'm basically a fan of it all, on a guarded basis. It's mostly good fun, and the guys self-select for those able to embrace it, so no harm done. My biggest concern is copycats, but thus far this remains a diverting one-off, so we're good.
Brian Wacker takes us behind the scenes at the "Coliseum", and I think we'll all agree that we didn't need to know this:
There is a lot to see, especially on the famed par-3 16th hole. A man in a Big Birdcostume. Two guys in wedding dresses, neither of them named Dennis Rodman. A woman, topless for longer than a moment.
There was the streaker of 2018 on the 17th hole—during the pro-am. And every year someone manages to find their way into the lake along the 18th.
That’s nothing. According to one source, during the 2014 tournament there were 19 arrests for public sex underneath the bleachers at 16.
“You mix a lot of booze, good weather and good-looking people, and it’s intoxicating,” one member of the Scottsdale Police Department said. “In more ways than one.”
Nineteen? Seems odd that it would be, you know, an odd number.... But perhaps those snowbirds are a little kinkier than we expect.
Saudi Stuff - Always fun to see the old guys win, especially with whom the bride and I have ties dating back to 2008:
Back in the winner’s circle again.
 |
| That trophy makes me think someone is compensating for something... |
Graeme McDowell shot a final-round even-par 70 to finish 12 under and win the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers on Sunday in Saudi Arabia. It is his 11th European Tour title.
He’s now won in three different decades, has 16 professional wins across 13 different countries and finds himself back inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
The 40-year-old McDowell finished two shots clear of defending champion Dustin Johnson, whose 3-under 67 (which included an eagle on the final hole) just wasn’t enough.
For those wondering about that reference above, there was woman's rainsuit involved...
Another reason to root for the guy? The Euro Tour is so busy tricking up their events, that it's inevitable that hilarity ensues:
Graeme McDowell was furious after a mid-round TV chat led to a frustrating slow play "yellow card" in the Saudi International.
He shot a two-under 68 to go into the weekend just two shots behind French star Victor Perez on eight-under-par.
But he was hugely irritated to get a "bad time" after falling victim to the tour's stringent new slow play rules.
Referee Mark Litton put McDowell's group in the clock before giving him a bad time a few holes later.
The 2010 US Open champion agreed to speak to Sky Sports as he walked off the sixth tee (his 15th hole), but his two-minute walk-and-talk with reporter Tim Barter left him 50 yards behind playing partners Phil Mickelson and Rafa Cabrera Bello.
"I got up there, I was first to go and had 215 yards into the wind, and it was a difficult shot," said McDowell, who faces an automatic one-stroke penalty if he gets another bad time this weekend.
This is a new pace-of-play policy, so perhaps these kinks will be worked out. McDowell played the weekend with that hanging over him, yet another reason to applaud his win. Pretty obvious, Mr. Pelley, that you can't have this both ways.
This guy doesn't play Mr. Pelley's tour on a regular basis, but I wouldn't be shoving a microphone in his face:
“To be honest with you, I don’t know any other sport that does interviews in the middle of play,” said Koepka, inset, a four-time major winner, in offering his view after catapulting himself into the top ten in the $3.5 million event on the Red Sea coast with a five-under-par 65.
“I know in football you’re not doing it, unless it’s in the Pro Bowl basketball you’re not doing it unless it’s half-time. This is the only sport where you’re talking to people while they are playing. I won’t do it. I’m not interested in talking about what just happened or the difficulty of the holes ahead. I’m just focussed on one shot at a time, where my ball’s at. I understand why it might be beneficial for the fans, but I don’t get it.”
I don't believe they're required to do in-round interviews, but obviously they're encouraged to do so. But this is win-win, because Brooks doesn't have all that much of interest to share.
Premier Stuff - I still don't think this ever gets off the ground, but it's exposing some interesting fault lines in our game. I'm not exactly sure in what order to blog the latest, but in our game one never gets called out for leading with Tiger, specifically this TC panel bit:
3. As more details about the proposed Premier Golf League surfaced last week (including plans for a feeder tour, as reported by Geoff Shackelford), AP golf writer Doug Ferguson asserted that without Tiger Woods on board, the league “doesn’t stand a chance.” Agree?
Kerr-Dineen: Eh, I don’t think so. Tiger is obviously a huge shot of adrenaline, but are you telling me that if Rory, Brooks, DJ, Day, Hideki, Rahm, JT, Phil and Rose all signed up, the tour would be dead on arrival? Doubtful.
Shipnuck: Woods is 44 with a reconstituted spinal cord. The game has to start planning for life after Tiger. If every other top player signs up for the PGL it still has legs. But obviously it would add a ton of buzz and credibility to the launch to have Tiger on board.
Bamberger: I can’t imagine Tiger signing on for this, because his highest life priority seems to be his two children, and this series of events, scattered all over the world, would make home time even more of a challenge. If Rory, Brooks, DJ, Day, Hideki, Rahm, JT, Phil and Rose all signed up you would not have a league. The unspoken appeal of any real tour event is having a HUNDRED or so players who could breakthrough in any given week. I do imagine the pay structure getting reworked as a result of this threat to the Tour, by which wins and top-five finishes start to get more of the purse than they do at present.
Berhow: Tiger is obviously a big get but for this league to be successful it has to be thinking 10, 20 and 30 years down the road, not just right now (and I’m sure it is). After Tiger, I think Rory McIlroy would be the guy they want to target. He’d be a draw no matter what country he’s playing in and when he speaks players (and media) listen. He’s also got a lot of game left.
You see the issue, no? Before I comment, let me add this lengthy post from Shack, who has largely owned this story, on why Tiger might be tempted:
—After win number 83, he only needs PGA Tour events as major champioship prep. Woods has reached the Hogan post-accident stage where another huge piece of history is around the corner with his 83rd win. That victory will set the new mark for most PGA Tour titles. But once secured, PGA Tour appearances are nothing but tune-ups for the major championships.—The money could be insane. When news of a $15 million Players purse broke last week, the thinking in Ponte Vedre clearly was a show that money is flowing back into player coffers. But given the Premier Golf League’s plan, the value of their financial offerings could make even the Players purse look average. The PGL is floating of $10 million weekly purses split among 48 players instead of 65 or so making a PGA Tour cut. On top of the purse, a season long pool for individual and team competitions will be in play. Then there is a structured appearance fee concept based on world ranking just for the players to show up. And reportedly huge travel perks such as private jet flightscovered by the league. Even then, should Tiger care about purses when…
—The money could be really insane for him. Holding all of the cards, Woods is expected to be offered substantial incentive to join the tour as a franchise founder. A lump sum payment north of $100,000,000 million seems like a good starting place, though I’d bet he gets more. His franchise will immediately be the most valuable should he ever decide to sell to a billionaire owner some day.
—Deal packaging could make him look insane if he says no. Major backers of this league can put together other elements to entice Woods: golf course design opportunities, expansion of his Foundation, hiring his TGR Live to run events, etc, etc... He may be looking at solidifying his post-career business in ways that only Michael Jordan and a few others can relate to.
—He could be convinced at ten events. While my reporting said the concept had been knocked down to ten events before the season ending championship, the PGL insists they are shooting for their original concept of 18. Woods will never play that many along with the majors. Maybe he negotiates a legend’s clause to only play a select number. However, common sense says he’s not alone. Ten events, the majors and two or three PGA Tour events (Genesis, Memorial, Bay Hill?) will be the maximum for Woods, with other elites wanting a similar schedule. And remember, there will be no more pleas to play the FedExCup playoffs, WGC’s in Memphis in July, and other cumbersome obligations at this stage of his career.
—The Hero World Challenge would be an ideal PGL stop. One other guaranteed Woods appearance each year: the 18-player Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. While sanctioned by the PGA Tour, this could become a stop on the PGL circuit depending on various out clauses and other components to the event’s PGA Tour arrangement.—A PR hit can be overcome. If Tiger were to flee for another tour, he can bank on a few things happening. Haters will say he’s bailing on the Tour that gave him an opportunity for a big check and they won’t be wrong. He can point out that Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were key players in of overthrowing the PGA of America in the early sixties and they suffered no long term image damage. Fans will accept if Tiger makes such a move as long as they can still see him finish off his career in majors, in the Genesis and occasional Memorial, or when he plays the Premier Golf League. As long as their media platform does not overcharge for the privilege.—The PGA Tour Brand Is Strong But… Within short time, if enough players defect, “The League” or the “PGL” could become synonymous with golf. A solid 99.5% of the sports viewing public cannot tell you the difference between the PGA Tour and the PGA of America. Or who runs what major events. While Woods could be seen as a deserter and the man who left the PGA Tour in the dust, memories fade faster than ever and as strong as the PGA Tour is, as profound as their charitable efforts are ($3 billion mark passed recently) and as beloved as many tournaments have become in their community, it’s not a dealkiller for Woods, and possibly Mickelson. Other players? Maybe.
I know, that was unnecessarily long.... But as Mark Twain famously said, I wrote you a long letter because I didn't have enough time to write a short one.
First and foremost, I remember a time back in the early aughts when someone made a convincing case that Tiger had no need to be a PGA Tour member. The case was convincing, because he could easily made a schedule that worked based upon a precious few sponsors exemptions. But he didn't, presumably because he didn't want to be that guy that deserted the Tour...
Mostly I see this as an unresolveable dillemma for the PGL organizers.... They need Tiger in the short-term, but he obviously can't be the future of such an undertaking. Who else has been approached? Rory, quite obviously, and that makes complete sense. But we had Phil and his business meeting Pro-Am pairing, and also this guy. Which forces them to face an obvious dilemma, that those players that stir the drink (in Reggie's famous phraseology) don't necessarily have much left in the tank.
Geoff is right that insane amounts of money are being bandied about, but where is the value proposition? A cursory look at golf's TV ratings should have a caution light flashing for us all, as I assume current sponsors are wasting their shareholders' money. At these higher amounts being bandied about? I just don't think the game creates that kind of value, but we obviously get to be spectators on this one.
But wait, things get curiouser and curiouser, as one of the game's elder statesmen comments:
“These players have signed an obligation [with the PGA Tour]. If you start talking toanother tour when you've done that, you're looking for trouble.
"I find a lot of greed in the sport now,” Player added. “When someone comes along like this, what do you do? Do you discard the PGA Tour where you've played all your life? Are you just going to say ‘to hell with you now?’ I don't like that. It is crazy to say you don't like money, but it's not as though they are struggling.
"I think Rory McIlroy made $23 million last year without even taking in his contracts. How much money do you want? Loyalty to me is very big."
So, I guess Gary is that guy who's pure of heart, the one destined to cast the first stone? Not exactly, as Geoff points out, these comments were made during his participation in the Saudi Golf Summit:
Not that there's anything wrong with that, just accusing others of greed while cashing checks from the Wahhabis seems a bad look.
Of course, Gary doesn't travel without baggage.... There's his lack of fidelity to the rules, and there was this from Alan Shipnuck's most recent mailbag:
If Jack is MJ and Tiger is LeBron, who is golf’s Kobe? -@GrantLeigh3
A transcendent player who in his prime was revered but not beloved, a highly specific personality peddling his own myth who rubbed some people the wrong way but inspired others, a tireless and even obsessive worker burning to be great? Gary Player.
I don't follow...has Kobe been in the news lately?
Drafting On Alan - I don't like that his mailbag is now being published over the weekend, but I can't resist the siren song of low-impact blogging:
A lot of “experts” are saying that Tiger is the best player in the world right now. Yet he is sixth in the OWGR. What exactly is the point of the rankings if we’re just going to ignore them? -@linksplayers
The OWGR algorithm is not a prisoner of the moment. It takes into account a significant body of work while Golf Twitter especially tends to overreact to what just happened. At Royal Melbourne, Tiger proved beyond a doubt that on a firm, fast course that demands precision and shotmaking and discipline — basically, the ultimate test — he is still by far the best player in the game.
But that is a highly specific criteria. On a long, narrow setup with thick rough, like Bethpage or Winged Foot, there are two or three dozen players who are more proficient than Woods. On the pressure-packed back nine of a major, when everyone is losing their mind and clear thinking and mental fortitude are paramount, Tiger can still get it done, as he proved at the Masters while the rest of a stellar leaderboard imploded.
But his reconstituted spinal cord doesn’t allow him to prepare the same way as the young bucks, and he has to limit his starts, so Tiger is unlikely to ever again be the most dominant player on Tour, and he may never again summit the World Ranking. But is he the best player in the game right now? Mostly.
Alan is more civil than I, treating a truly stupid question with respect.
We don't "ignore" the OWGR any more than we blindly follow it. Right now, literally right now, the best player in the world is Webb Simpson. No other answer is acceptable based upon the questioners premise, but that answer might not have much of a shelf life.
There's many reasons to distrust the algorithms of the OWGR, but it's purpose has much more to do with those ranked far lower (the magic numbers are 64, 125 and 156), and the use thereof for qualification into majors and WGCs. In terms of who has that top slot, I think we can all agree that any system that has Luke Donald or Lee Westwood as the top-ranked player in the world, is fair game for criticism.
Is Bryson really that lacking in self awareness? He picks a fight with Koepka he can’t win, then plays a Euro tour event when officials there are looking for a dawdling target for publicity. It’s like he needs a full time numbskull prevention advisor. -@HampRogers
I think you answered your own question.
Poking Bryson is good fun, but doesn't he get a little credit for not being deterred by the Euro Tour's focus on pace-of-play?
What is your favorite tournament on the West coast swing and why? It’s my favorite part of the schedule with Torrey Pines, the rowdy gathering in Scottsdale, Pebble Beach and Riviera. -@SteveThomsonMN
The Clambake is so fun if you avoid the “celebrity” rotation and watch pro’s pros take on Spyglass and the Shore when there is almost no one else out there. And Sunday at Pebble is a blast when the focus is on real golf and the course. But overall I think the answer is the L.A. Open (now known as the Genesis Invitational, hosted by Tiger Woods). The field is stacked, the course is so pure, and there is a rich history and a little stardust sprinkled over the whole thing.
I think that's right... Phoenix is fun and Pebble is beautiful, though trust me and make othe rplans for Saturday.
Supporting golf in the “Saudi Arabian region” makes no sense. Give me a good reason to play there this week, minus the appearance fee. -@JustShake
Well, Phil wangled a pro-am pairing with the would-be founders of the Premier Golf League, so he’s also finding time to subvert the PGA Tour. And with Saudi Arabia determined to pour more and more money into the game I have no doubt other players (and their handlers) are discussing course design projects, teaching academies and other ways to, ahem, grow the game.
There is no other reason, except for Sergio.... Poor boy had to travel to Saudi without an appearance fee, which seems to me the civil rights issue of our era.
Is this really an issue?
When will PGA do the right thing and start penalizing players shots for refusing to shout fore as wayward drives clatter into their adoring fans? For whatever reason the majority of these privileged stars couldn’t be bothered with this basis courtesy. Rant over. -@bcunningham0
I feel ya. It is bad form and does speak to a certain entitlement. The penalty should be that any fan who is doinked by the ball gets to throw it into the trees or a bunker, with no relief given.
I don't even think the fans can hear them 350 yards out, but maybe the pointing helps them assume the position?
Does this guy watch much sports?
What is it about winning, Alan? Both Ashun Wu and Ryan Palmer melted into the distance after catching the scent of silver. So what is the marker for those that can win and those that cannot? -@SportaSmile
This is the defining question in all of sports — what separates the closers from the journeymen? You can’t spot it on the range. You can’t even spot it between the ropes on Thursday or Friday or Saturday. Winning is a black art, an MRI of the soul. Even the best winners have trouble articulating how they do it. It’s this very mystery that makes tournament golf such compelling theater.
And the thing about our game is that the player has way too much time to think about such things, which is an unappreciated aspect of it all.
And a strong closing Q&A:
Have you ever answered a question from your own burner account on #askalan, and does your burner have any aces? -@GolfingBrock
Hahaha, I’m not cool enough to have a burner. Also, if I did I would inevitably blow up my spot with comments that would be too easily traced back to me. Furthermore, I barely have time for one Twitter account! Wait, it sounds like I doth protest too much…
He's tweaking Alan on multiple fronts, so kudos for sure. I just wish he could have worked in a reference to the current era of U.S. Ryder Cup dominance....
But Alan, just a quick piece of advice.... When you set up the Twitter burner account, the handle Pierre Delecto is already taken.
See you tomorrow.
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