Weekend Wrap

A weekend featuring two beautiful days?  Perhaps 2020 has finally run its course?

Not so fast.  Just as thoughts of emerging from our national nightmare cross my mind, my body decides to pile on.  Late in Saturday's round I felt a familiar sensation in my right shin, the onset of the dreaded shin splints.  This may ring a bell fro anyone that's been with me since I commenced blogging, as I've only experienced the one prior instance.  Interestingly, that was in the other leg...

The astute observer will note that the rock-hard links turf could well be the cause, but the unique feature of that trip, in which we parked ourselves for two weeks at Ballyliffin, was hand carts.  Obviously the turf at Fairview is much softer than proper linksland, especially with all the rain we've had, but I've been using our paved cart paths whenever possible...  When I revert to walking (as in that post from Ballyliffin, I had to grab a buggy yesterday to be able to play), I may have to stay on the green stuff....

In any event, I fear that 2020 has more in store for us.

Scenes From Seminole - The power of low expectations was on display, as it was great to have something, anything really to watch, as this game story lede notes:

Live. And maybe an inch or so below it on the bottom right cornerof all of our televisions, cellphones and computers. Golf.

That’s what we had most every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tee shots and approach shots, birdies and bogeys. Our professional golf routine. That’s what we hadn’t had every day since the middle of March. Our coronavirus routine.

That’s what we had again Sunday when we turned on the broadcast of the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins game. A live golf event. We were the winner. 

Charity was the winner, the event raising more than $5 million for various relief funds.

Yeah, somebody had to actually win the thing:

And, as it was live golf, there were live golf winners on Sunday at Seminole Golf Club. Even a live golf, closest-to-the-pin tiebreaker. Rory McIlroy won that, along with six skins and $1.5 million, and he and partner Dustin Johnson won over the team of Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff, their 11 skins and $1.85 million for charity besting the seven skins and $1.15 million of Fowler and Wolff.

So, shall we see how folks enjoyed it?  You should perhaps mark your calendars, because we have a weekly Tour Confidential panel that doesn't lead with a Tiger-related question.  

1. Live golf – live golf! – returned Sunday with the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins game, featuring Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson vs. Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff. McIlroy and Johnson prevailed, winning $1.85 million of the $3 million pot for Covid-related charities. (The players won additional money for their charities through various bonuses.) As a television event for fans at home, would you deem the match a success?

Certainly a qualified success... Especially as they were smart enough to get the jump on the Tiger-Phil show.

Sean Zak: Definitely! It put live sports on the screen, which is all we asked for. Though our standards for compelling television have certainly dropped these days, I was thrilled to be able to see one of the best courses in the world for the first time. The broadcast was clearly well planned and orchestrated. Considering it was a skeleton crew, it was impressive in all the information it delivered.

Michael Bamberger: I couldn’t say about the home TV experience. I was watching it in person, and at a distance far greater than 6 feet. What I saw, l loved. But I can only think of it as an unqualified success. People love golf, great courses, golf played at a high level, wishful thinking. (We could play there, we could play those shots.) People need to lose themselves on others’ lives, and sport is a safe and good place to do that.

Alan Shipnuck: Qualified yes. The golf was uneven, the banter flat, the ending kind of unsatisfying. But it was certainly more fun than no golf at all! 

Dylan Dethier: You’re all correct. The charity, the live sports, the new golf course — all exciting in these times.

They also trumped that other reality show with their astute choice of venues...  More on this later, but I thought Seminole looked great and provided sufficient challenge.  

I can't comment on the ending, as my tape cut off before then.  We were both nodding off anyway, but it does sound like a contrived ending....  Yanno, just like the FedEx Cup.

Before we move on, I just loved the look of them lugging their bags, and small moments such as watching them clean their clubs.  

These guys as well:

3. McIlroy, Johnson, Fowler and Wolff played without caddies. What part of riding solo do you think was the biggest adjustment for them?

Riding?  What a God-awful phrasing, as I for one took pleasure in the fact that they weren't, you know, riding....  Not sure what to expect next week, because after sixteen back surgeries I can't imagine Tiger doing the same.

Zak: Having to pick that bag up and put it down some 70-80 times! I know they’re all great athletes and in great shape (we can only assume right now), but doing that for 18+ holes gets tiring, I don’t care who you are.

Bamberger: Well, a week from now, they will ride solo, I understand. In carts. This is what millions of us do. Play golf. They’re young and fit. Should not have been an issue at all. 

Shipnuck: I think it had more to do with rust, and some wind, but a lot of times they looked off by half-a-club. Makes me wonder if caddies could have had them more dialed in. And nobody made any putts besides Fowler. Again, Seminole’s greens are tough, but I think these guys missed the ritual of confirming their reads. 

Dethier: I think a good caddie helps his player commit to shots. A couple of these guys looked like they could have used some help in that department.

Strike that comment above, as Mike thinks they'll be in buggies.  This one felt like the NCAAs, though next week seems more like....well, Big Break.  

I had many of the same thoughts as Alan, though I'd just add that Donald Ross greens will expose any weakness in approach shots, hence the pitch marks in regulation.... These guys haven't played much golf, so rust seems the most logical explanation.

Shall we grade their endeavor?  Nah, how about we let Dylan Dethier do so, beginning with the summa cum laudes:

Dustin Johnson’s pace of play 

Grade: A+. Dustin Johnson did not play his very best golf on Sunday, but he did appear to play his very fastest golf. Despite the languid manner with which he speaks, D.J. is among the world’s fastest walkers and he certainly wastes no time over the ball. Throw in a general apathy plus the comforts of a skins game format? Light speed. 

Rickie Fowler’s putter 

Grade: A. The guy made what, seven birdies? He was rolling the rock and carrying his partner around. He just didn’t quite carry him over the finish line. More on that later.

Yeah, DJ played more than one shot before the cameras were ready for him... Rickie was the only one that played like a touring professional, otherwise the golf was pretty desultory.

I agree with this as well:

Carry bags 

Grade: A. Carry bags rule. Pros carrying bags rules. Even though I’m sad we didn’t get any “I left my bag in the fairway, but topped my drive short of the forward tees” moments, this was still fun and relatable. Why do staff bags exist again?

On that topic, see if this amuses you as much as it did your humble blogger:

Heh.

Oklahoma State’s facial hair 

Grade: B. I think I’m supposed to feel like Wolff and Rickie going Mustache Bros was either the Best Vibe Ever or Worst Look Ever, but I can’t quite summon that sort of passion. This seems to be Slick Rick’s go-to look now anyway, and Wolff? He looked nice. Bit of a Baker Mayfield vibe. Well done.

Employee No. 2 was calling Rickie Inspector Clousseau...  I thought they were going for that 1970's porn 'stache look.

Seminole on TV 

Grade: B. The hype was always going to be tough to live up to, and given the circumstances they did an excellent job of showcasing the golf course for the first time. Awesome drone footage and flyovers for between-shot action. Plus, the Donald Ross greens were on solid display. But tons of rain took any of the firm-and-fast fire out of the place and the impossibility of a fully operational camera setup meant we were still left wanting more.

It seems churlish to downgrade Seminole's marks because of the minimalist TV coverage.  

I thought it looked great and that the NBC/GC crew did a reasonable job of explaining its appeal.  Of course we geeks always want more, but I give them an "A" for effort, as they explained those two ridge lines that Ross route through imaginatively. 

One place I was disappointed was when they played the sixth hole.  They at least utilized it to introduce Hogan's love of that particular golf hole, though they didn't feel compelled to explain the why...

You'll no doubt guess what's coming, as here I can only assume that Dylan is grading on a curve:

The witty banter 

Grade: D. If the closest thing to a zinger felt like a FedEx-sponsored segment of Tour Trash Talk, probably wasn’t great. These guys seem slightly too aware that they’re performing, when all we’d really want is for them to be themselves.

 Let me see if I have this straight?  DJ is in the field and you're expecting pithy banter?  

That Rory bit about the FedEx Cup was a mishit as well, though did any of you hear what triggered him?  Not a great look when you're out there playing for others.

But I'm unclear on why Dylan thinks they weren't being themselves.  Most of the top professionals are good guys, but they trend boring...  Your own trash talk is fun, but listening to others' is rarely amusing.

But good to know they're as whiny as the rest of us when they miss a putt.

Dave Dusek performs the same ritual, starting with the venue:

Seminole Golf Club: A+ 

If that’s what Seminole is like after about 3 inches of rain, we can’t imagine how

challenging Donald Ross’ gem must be when it is running firm and fast.

This was the first time Seminole had been shown on television and it did not disappoint. The variety of the holes, the challenging greens and the creative uses of sand and water made it a feast for the eyes and a challenge for the players.

The course is going to host the 2021 Walker Cup matches, and now that the golfing world has seen Seminole, we expect the television ratings for that match between the best amateurs from the United States against their counterparts from Great Britain and Ireland tp draw much bigger ratings.

A special place.  Now, how do I get on it?

Dusek grades the four players individually, but seemingly on a massive curve. 

The TC writers also opine about the venue:

4. Seminole Golf Club, one of the world’s most exclusive courses, made its television debut during the skins game, giving much of the world its first peek at the Donald Ross design. Did the course live up to the hype? 

Zak: Yes! The Atlantic offered a breeze late in the day and gave the course some teeth. Loved seeing the greens play pretty firm, all things considered with the rain the course received on the weekend. Any misses left and right were placed in bunkers, and if you did that short-sided, you were screwed. That’s good, proper, modern conditioning.

Bamberger: The course is both American and British, tough and accessible. As Rees Jones says, it’s a boutique course. A one-off. There’s really nothing like it. In a hyper age, this course is a model of calm. 

Shipnuck: It was great to see it. Seminole asked many questions and demanded precision. It’s not the course’s fault it’s built on flattish Florida land. 

Dethier: It was good, but I’m still not sure we saw Seminole in full. Soft fairways, difficult camerawork, none of the bells and whistles we’ve grown accustomed to. It’s a great golf course, and I hope we can see it again.

Seminole has always been high on my list to play, because it begs the question of how South Florida golf can be interesting.  Part of the answer is that, contra Shipnuck, it's actually an interesting property by the standards of the region, principally due to those two ridge lines.  Folks that revere the place speak of Ross' imaginative routing that use those elevation changes to best effect.  We got a sense of that from the broadcast, but limited by the production values of the day.

I had not realized that the course could be extended to more than 7,200 yards, but even in soft conditions the guys were challenged.  

Daniel Rappaport offers his six takeaways from the day, though I'm not convinced by this one:

Let the men wear shorts

All four players wore shorts on Sunday. No surprise there. It’s May in Florida. It’s also no surprise that they all looked perfectly professional doing so, at least to this admittedly

biased observer. 

There’s just no reason to not let players wear shorts during tournament rounds on the PGA Tour. It’s clear they want to—ever since the rule was changed a few years ago to allow pros to wear shorts during practice rounds, the vast majority of them do so when they can. We’re in the business of marketing these players as athletes. Athletes wear shorts. Yes, there’s the tradition element involved—that pro golfers have always worn pants—and that it might look out of place for a bit seeing guys wearing shorts down the stretch on a Sunday. To that, there’s this reply: Everything must evolve. We adapt, or we die.

I don't actually agree with Dan that they looked professional, though that's obviously a matter of opinion.  I think the shorts worked perfectly for this event, especially with the bags slung over their shoulders, but I'd encourage the Tour to keep the guys looking different from the rest of us.  Of course, I'd also encourage the Tour to avoid Memphis in July, but they know better....

On that very subject, Golf.com has up a reboot of their 2015 profile of Forrest Fezler, a man famous for wearing shorts for all of one hole:

In 1973, he had three runner-up finishes earning Rookie of the Year honors. The

following season, he won the Southern Open and gave Hale Irwin a run for the money at the U.S. Open known as “The Massacre at Winged Foot.” Forrest Fezler did all of that and more in 10 years on the PGA Tour, but three decades later, he is still best remembered for breaking The Shorts Barrier, becoming the only man to ever wear shorts while competing in the U.S. Open. “I still hear it two or three times a week,” Fezler, 65, said by phone from his home in Tallahassee, Fla. “They say, ‘Oh, you’re the guy who wore shorts!’” 

While recreational golfers sport shorts all the time, Tour pros aren’t allowed to. But back in 1983, the USGA didn’t have a rule expressly barring shorts, a loophole Fezler memorably exploited. It was Sunday at Oakmont and Fezler wasn’t in contention. After putting out on 17, he darted down the hill behind the green, ducked into a port-o-john and quickly changed into shorts. An Associated Press photographer captured the Superman-coming-out-of-the-phone-booth moment, a key reason the stunt became big news.

Who doesn't like to stick it to the man?  It's worth a read to remind ourselves of the odious Purvis James Boatwright...  Boy that organization has been run by some gems, no?

 Lastly from our TC friends, lessons to apply to a future event:

5. Next up: the Match II, with Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning taking on Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady at the Medalist Club this coming weekend. What lessons could or should that event take away from the skins game? 

Zak: Use Shot Tracer as much as you can, especially with the QBs. It’s difficult to track how every shot begins and ends with fewer cameramen than normal, so automated cameras make even more sense now. When today’s shots were not picked up by Shot Tracer, it was difficult to tell what side of the hole they were on 

Bamberger: I’d prefer to watch four pros, but these are exceptional times. I’d have the players walk. I’d have holes where the QBs have to finish. I wouldn’t have any moments of hit-and-giggle or trash talk, unless it’s natural. This is golf.

Shipnuck: The Match is what it is. I think this was a helpful reminder that televised golf is never going to be super exciting except down the stretch at a big tournament. But there are many little pleasures for those of us who love the game, and that’s enough.

Dethier: Tell the players not to perform for the cameras! That’s not what they’re good at. Play golf, have fun, we’ll watch.

Completely agree on Shot Tracer, though with the flat landscape that's not always enough.  Although telling Phil not to eat the scenery isn't likely to change his behavior....

But I think Mike will get his wish, as the modified alternate shot planned for the back nine next weekend could be good fun.  I expect that the decision of which drive to play will be the best part, as it involves actual strategy about who plays what kind of shot (and from what distance).  Though I expect the best ball front nine to bore us....

Veej, The Solution - John Feinstein wants to take all involved to Camp David, as he's solved le affaire Veej.  Unfortunately, he subjects logic to waterboarding and other myriad violations of the Geneva Convention in the cause.

Here's where he first jumps the tracks, at least in my humble opinion:

If there was actual golf going on right now, this wouldn’t be nearly as big a story.

But there’s not, so it’s getting a lot of play.

John, I think we can all agree that 2020 is not like normal times...  The argument against Vijay is based on that premise, so was it necessary to sacrifice that strawman?

But the logic fails keep coming:

Plus, it’s Singh, one of the most polarizing players in golf history. Let’s be honest, if Davis Love III, who is in the same lifetime member category as Singh, had chosen to make the one-hour drive from Sea Island, Ga., to play, no one would have been critical of his decision to “take a spot” from a struggling player in the field.

Why? Because Love is as popular as anyone who has ever played on the PGA Tour.

Johm, I'm going to type slowly in the hopes that you can keep up.  Forgive my highly technical language, but it's a dick move made by one of the biggest dicks out there.  Not only should we not be surprised that dicks do dick-like things, but your reference to Davis is unintentionally hilarious, because it's not random that Davis doesn't do crap like this... Cause, effect...

Anyway, his solution is almost as funny as the above:

All of that said—on both sides of the argument—the Tour could resolve the issue and make everyone happy by expanding the field at Sawgrass with an extra threesome. That way, instead of Singh’s presence costing someone a spot, it would actually add two spots. Given the time of year, there’s plenty of daylight, even with social-distancing tee times, to add one group. The tour has apparently discussed adding players to all tour events this summer once play resumes but has thus far rejected the idea because it might mean finishing Thursday-Friday rounds the next morning. Let’s pause a moment here to remember that commissioner Jay Monahan long liked to insist that pace of play on tour hadn’t been a problem. Almost 15 hours of daylight isn’t enough?

They should do that, I agree, but also tell Vijay to F-off... That way they'll add three worthy Korn Ferry players, which beats John's two.

Every field should be expanded to the extent permitted by daylight.  But Vijay should never be allowed on the Korn Ferry Tour, but especially not in 2020 when playing opportunities will be so limited.  If he doesn't get that on his own, then someone in Ponte Vedra Beach needs to explain life to the man.  

Glad to have had some actual golf to dissect.  See you later in the week.