Weekend Wrap

We've lots to cover, so no time for pleasantries.

DJ By a Nose - I had a sense that Sunday in Hartford might differ from the three days that preceded it.  It just seems recurring motif, that guys shoot lights out up until that moment that they realize they could win the damn thing.  Then they do their best imitation of your humble blogger straining to get an 85 to the clubhouse...

One thing we can note with certainty is that DJ looks healthy... And it's that contrast that makes us realize that he wasn't right when we saw him during the winter:

Johnson rode renewed greatness on the greens to a one-shot victory over Kevin Streelman on Sunday. Johnson hadn’t won since last year’s World Golf Championships-

Mexico Championship, but Sunday’s win gives him a victory every year since he turned pro in 2008, his 21st overall.

“It’s very exciting to get my 21st win and then get my first win of the season,” Johnson said. “It was big because I hadn’t played very well. But I put in a lot of good work the last couple weeks after Colonial, and so it’s nice to see the game just start coming around.”

The CBS crew seemed to have little else to discuss but the difference between face-balanced and toe-hang putters.  But every time they gave us the ground level view, DJ rolled it perfectly and they were all center cut.

He did also get the kind of break one gets when it's meant to be:

But in about 10 minutes, all on one hole, Johnson’s lead dropped to one. Streelman birdied the 13th to get within two shots, then Johnson hooked his tee shot on the 13th out of bounds on his way to a bogey. In about 15 minutes, he gained the shot back. He found the fairway on the par-4 14th, knocked his approach to within about 16 feet and dropped the putt. Thank you, new putter. 

On the 294-yard, par-4 15th, Johnson tried to finesse his tee shot near the green, only to have it sail toward water on the left. It miraculously plugged in the muddy downslope. Johnson pulled up his pants and took off his socks and shoes to stand in the water to hit it out, and he was within about 4 feet after two shots. He sunk it. Thank you again, new putter.

Johnson wasn't the only guy to have a ball hang on that bank unexpectedly...  I happened to catch Wesley Bryan receiving the same good fortune on Thursday, when he was wearing a mic.  Of course, Bryan is a noted trick shot artist, so we expect it from him.

The Tour Confidential panel has a strange take on DJ's win.  OK, the most notable aspect of this week's confab is the absence of a Tiger question...  I've marked my calendar accordingly.  But they posed a question that...well, see what you think of it:

2. Sunday’s final pairing at the Travelers was a contrast in styles — the straighter, shorter and arguably more tactical style of Brendon Todd (who averages 280 yards in driving distance) vs. the grip-it-and-rip-it approach of Dustin Johnson (306 yards). In the end, DJ came out on top. As a golf fan watching from home, which style of golf is more compelling to watch?

I'm pretty sure that "Brendon Todd" and the word "compelling" have never been used in the same sentence.  I think Todd is a great little story, coming back from driver yips to becomes a solid player with multiple wins is good stuff for sure.  But compelling?  You see the issue...

Let's see if anyone thinks otherwise:

Zak: DJ is more compelling, and it’s not close. Did you see that drive he hit on 18? Every shot is intriguing, as you saw with him down the stretch. Todd’s tee shots largely felt inconsequential. That’s no fault of his own, but you asked the question about compelling. DJ is the answer.

Sens: Agreed. On top of his power, DJ also has a well-documented capacity for little brain cramps — such as his OB on the short par-5 down the stretch today — that make for good rollicking entertainment.

Piastowski: Watching BOMBS is always more fun to watch. Baseball built a whole campaign around the long ball, and golf seems to be promoting it, too. But, man, Todd’s rhythmic swing was mesmerizing sometimes, too.

Bamberger: DJ’s swing is so purely athletic. As was Nicklaus’ and Arnold’s and Hogan’s. DJ, of course. But that doesn’t mean the ball doesn’t go too far because it does.

Dethier: The contrast is what’s important. The little guy vs. the big guy. DJ’s game is only impressive because Brendon Todd exists, too. Watching Webb Simpson sac-bunt his way to victory last week was incredible. It’s all relative, which means not every driver can be above average.

 Props to Dylan for finding something interesting in that question, because of course it's the yin and yang that makes it intriguing.  But the question also misinterprets the enigma that is DJ.  For sure he's a bomber, but he's also an incredibly straight driver of the golf ball for a guy that sens it with such malice and aforethought.  But this item comes far closer to that which makes DJ must see TV:

Is there ever a dull moment with Dustin Johnson?

The answer is an unequivocal NO. How have we not learned our lesson with this guy yet?

I made this analogy on Twitter, but it was so good (I got eight WHOLE likes) that I had

to bring it here—Dustin Johnson is the guy who is beating you 28-7 in the fourth quarter of a game of Madden, but rather than step on your neck, he “makes things interesting” by letting you score a few times. Sometimes that works out and you still win 28-21. Other times you ground your club in a bunker and cost yourself a major. It’s dangerous business, as Johnson proved on the back nine. Each time he had a chance to run away with this thing, he immediately made a mistake—an OB tee shot at the par-5 13th, flirting with the water on 15, a bogey on the par-3 16th, just to name a few. He just refuses to win easily.

The thing is, DJ was beginning to get used to the win-it-easy life. His last four victories on the PGA Tour were by at least three strokes, and one of those was his epic walk-off eagle at the 2018 FedEx St. Jude Classic. But on Sunday at TPC River Highlands, he reverted to his old, hold-your-breath and chomp-on-your-fingernails form, ultimately claiming another title. Would he rather win by five? Sure, but that’d be a lot less fun to watch.

That sequence was peak-DJ.  Todd triples the 12th to give Dustin a good sized lead, and our hero immediately launches that drive OB.  But in a plot twist none saw coming, it's OB by millimeters....

Shall we spend a moment on other players?  How about that 36-hole leader?

Phil Mickelson had a quiet weekend

Following rounds of 64 and 63, 50-year-old Phil Mickelson was the solo leader of the Travelers Championship. After Friday’s round, I wondered if he could keep it together

all four days, something he struggles to do as he gets older at places not named Pebble Beach. I’m sad to report that my concerns were legitimate, as Lefty went 71-71 on the weekend to drop into a tie for 24th.

You’ll never believe this, but his driver failed him on Saturday and Sunday. After gaining strokes off the tee in each of the first two rounds, he lost 0.235 on Saturday and then lost 3.042 on Sunday, when he hit just five fairways. Someone who has never watched golf in their life could tell you that ain’t gonna get it done. Like many of you, I love it when Phil is in the mix and hope he continues to be as long as he wants, but it’s hard to get excited about the 63s and 64s when you know the one-over 71 is lurking right around the corner.

 Quiet?  Bad?  Whatever...

But the biggest howler is imputing shock in the reader that Phil drove it poorly.  That's what we in the trade refer to as a dog-bites-man story.

Of course, Phil being Phil, he's doing the relentless optimism thing:

Phil Mickelson fades, but insists Travelers Championship 'start of something special'

To which I'll respond with relentless objectivity:  We'll see about that...

Here Tour Confidential gang did far better in framing their question:

6. Phil Mickelson, 50 years young and still hitting bombs, made a run at the Travelers before fading late to finish tied for 24th. We’re setting the over-under for the number of PGA Tour wins Mickelson still has in his tank at 1.5. What side of that bet would you take?

The answers are perfectly fine:

Zak: I’ll take the under, which makes me sad! I’d love Mickelson to nab a bunch of wins 

in his 50s, but I think you learned something from those rounds this week. At his best, Mickelson has the fire power to win. But does he have the game to do it four times in four days? He didn’t this weekend and that just feels like much more to ask of New Phil than Old Phil.

Sens: I’ll take the under too, though it doesn’t make me the least bit sad. He’s had a nice long run (understatement of the day). Winning’s hard. And we will still see plenty of compelling moments from the 50-plus Phil whether he nabs another title or two or not.

But this one stood out:

Piastowski: Over. Mickelson has embraced some of the science behind longevity. Football, baseball and basketball players have done the same, and those sports have seen extended excellence from some of its stars, so why not golf? Phil has also been crafty throughout his career, and I could see him making the necessary adjustments, maybe focusing on accuracy over distance (fewer bombs?!?), much like a pitcher who loses a bit on the fastball and must work on location.

Accuracy?  I'm gonna go with no, final answer:

Phil Mickelson files trademark for 'Hit Bombs'; will clothing line follow?

Also, put me down for "Not Sad".

 But happy that things worked out for this guy:

What a Sunday for Will Gordon

After Will Gordon shot a third-round 71, I doubt anyone expected the unknown 23-year-old to bounce back the way he did on Sunday. But the 2019 SEC player of the year at Vanderbilt did more than just bounce back, shooting a six-under 64 that jumped him into a tie for third place, which earned him special temporary status on the PGA Tour after entering the week with no status on any tour. And Gordon birdied the 18th hole in order to get it. Talk about clutch. There’s only one winner every week on tour, but stories like Gordon’s show you can still win big without actually raising the trophy.

It was a double bounce-back.  He recovered from both a poor Saturday and a dispiriting bogey on No. 17, so good on him.  He started the week with no status anywhere (he got in on a sponsor's exemption), but ended it with status on the big-boy tour.  Well played.

Golf in the Time of Corona - Hartford Edition -  Before we dive in, there was one late-breaking piece of news:

Dylan Frittelli tested positive for Covid-19 during the PGA Tour’s pre-charter testing

process and has withdrawn from next week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. 

Frittelli missed the cut at the Travelers and had planned to travel to Detroit Golf Club via the Tour’s jet. According to a release, the PGA Tour has been in contact with those close to Frittelli and “after conducting necessary contact tracing, the Tour’s medical advisors are not recommending any additional testing at this time.” 

Frittelli played the first two rounds of the Travelers with J.T. Poston and Ian Poulter. He was T8 at the RBC Heritage last week and missed the cut at the Tour’s return at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

With Poults?  Win-win, baby!

Nick Pietruszkiewicz of ESPN summarizes the Tour's handling of an eventful week, including this handy summary:

However, this week:

• There were positive tests, of players and caddies.

• There was the sudden arrival of the PGA Tour commissioner and the possibility of another shutdown.

• There was one major champion leaving and one playing a round all by himself.

So yes, the stark reality of all this was evident all across the property, every day of the week.

Yes, it certainly was.  As we've seen with the reaction to the virus writ large, certain media types seem immune to nuance, rather conveying the simple message that we're all gonna die.  Alas, playing the role of Chris "Freedo" Cuomo in the golf context is our friend Geoff Shackelford, whose head will seemingly explode at the next positive test.

But what of those positive tests?  Geoff himself informs us of this:

Also, the first player to test positive on the PGA Tour, Nick Watney is feeling ok and tells GolfDigest.com’s Tod Leonard how he awoke last Friday to Whoop readings that made him realize he had a problem.

OK, just to be clear... Nick Watney: Not Dead.

Also not dead:

Cameron Champ is an example of how difficult testing really is amid the PGA Tour’s attempt to play through the coronavirus pandemic. 

Champ announced Saturday afternoon that he has tested negative three times for COVID-19 since a positive test on Tuesday forced him to withdraw from this week’s Travelers Championship. 

It raises questions as to whether Champ is a victim of a false positive test result. The CDC reports that false positive tests are rare but possible, depending on the type of test.

That last bit os quite the howler.   Good to know that the organization that sent out testing kits infected with the disease acknowledges the remote possibility of false positives.  Don't ever change, CDC!

And that spike in cases behind Shack's panic?

As the pandemic panic porn continues because identified cases are rising, Dr. Fauci is back on television, and the media is once again demanding a national response. However, there is news they don’t share with you that could help reduce the already unwarranted levels of fear. Obviously, that doesn’t fit their partisan agenda.

A doctor from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said in a press conference Wednesday that people who are testing positive do not appear to be getting as sick as they did earlier in the pandemic. Dr. Donald Yealy also noted this trend was being seen in the wake of massive protests.

He suggested the country is focusing too much on rising COVID-19 case counts.

“We need to change our mindset and focus not exclusively on the number of cases, but on the severity of illness. We shouldn’t just be counting those who have a diagnosed infection,” Yealy said. “For the vast majority of people testing positive, their illness is mild, or they don’t even know they have any symptoms of COVID-19 infection.”

I'm sorry, but I had been reliably informed that Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia,,,

Panic porn is good, but I'm thinking pandemic porn is even better.  

Geoff's gnashing of teeth is here, and he does acknowledge a bit of good news:

The good news? 

A tournament concluded with Dustin Johnson winning in an entertaining final round,

albeit with a weather delay that was forecast. Tee times were, once again, inexplicably not moved up for both safety and avoidance-delay reasons.

Masks were seen on players in post-round interviews, on one caddie in the network TV window (for Brendon Todd) and on some members of the PGA Tour rules staff when interacting with players. The putting green was no longer a crowded gathering place.

The CBS crew has done a remarkable job presenting the events with limited crews and major constraints.

Thanks for that, Karen.

To me, Shack's mask-fetish is the perfect synechdoche of this moment.   It is virtue signalling at its purest, an art form on the left these days.  

But wait, Geoff has some bad news for us as well:

The bad news?

Testing reliability by Sanford Health is now in question with Cameron Champ looking like a false-positive situation. Earlier in the week, Brooks Koepka caddy Ricky Elliott reported negative tests after his positive that trimmed the world no. 2 and his brother from the Travelers field. 

CBS has done a remarkable job with a small crew—beancounters don’t event think this is sustainable.

And somehow, the virus has become an opportunity for the PGA Tour to move Whoop product.

Here is the statement on Dylan Fritelli’s positive test, with the quote as boilerplate as it gets, particularly if you’ve ever heard the charismatic South African speak.

Apparently Geoff will only be happy when the Tour shuts down over...false positives.  

Before we leave, the TC panel had a Q&A on this, and there was a few interesting bits contained within:

1. The PGA Tour’s third tournament after its three-month hiatus due to the coronavirus saw a flurry of withdrawals due to the virus. Cameron Champ and Denny McCarthy tested positive and withdrew; Brooks Koepka and Graeme

McDowell both withdrew after their caddies tested positive; Chase Koepka, the younger brother of Brooks Koepka who had to Monday-qualify to get in the field, also withdrew as a precautionary measure; and Webb Simpson withdrew after a member of his family tested positive. Then, on Sunday night, Dylan Frittelli tested positive. On Wednesday, Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced stricter safety measures, then modified the Tour’s protocols again on Saturday. As other sports prepare to return to their own competitive spheres, what learnings can and should they take away from the first three weeks of the Tour’s return?

Sean Zak: One, bubbles don’t exist. These leagues will operate with something that more closely resembles nets, not bubbles. Another learning is that, optically, enforcement of the rules is on the league and its inhabitants. Jay Monahan was fist-bumping Tour players despite the Tour saying for weeks that type of contact was prohibited. The Tour has done a phenomenal job of setting up a very controlled space, but in order for it to be fully controlled, everyone within it needs to follow protocol and hold each other to those protocols, too. Things as easy as eating in your hotel room, it seems.

Josh Sens: That a ‘bubble’ is only as protective as its weakest point. If not everyone is abiding by the protocols, it’s like having a peeing section in a pool. Also, as Sean points out, that individual choices matter. And that old habits die hard. On the 17th today, as DJ was putting, his brother/caddie sidled right up alongside Brendon Todd’s caddie, who sidestepped away slightly. Only to have Austin cozy up to him again. Not a malicious move by any stretch. Just a reminder of how easy it is to slip back into old ways when new ones are called for. And lastly, that it’s hard to test too much.

This is the predictable result of the stupidity of our public health establishment, combined with the pandemic porn the media has been shoveling at us.  First, that egregious behavior from Austin Johnson comes with effectively zero possibility of transmission, given the briefness and outdoor location.  So, why are we continuing to focus on face masks in outdoor locations?

Secondly, this is a young and healthy population, in which the effects of catching range from an inconvenience to a nothingburger...  Again, a little focus on that which is actually important would be nice at this late date.

But this from Mike Bamberger seems right:

Michael Bamberger: The more testing the Tour does, the more positive tests it will get, at least for a while. And that’s OK, to a point. There is a tipping point. I don’t know what it is. The Tour has to be figuring out what it is. I don’t see having fans at the Memorial.

That first bit is true enough, though I'd focus elsewhere.  To me the relevant fact is that, while players and others are arriving on site carrying the virus, there is no evidence that the Tour's events have caused any spreading of it.  

But I do very much suspect that those fans at The Memorial will never get inside the gates.  It's one thing to assume the risk for yourself, especially given the demographics inside the bubble.  But to expose golf's notably older fan base to it seems not worth the risk.

Best of all, the reward for navigating this difficult gauntlet is....a trip to Detroit.  One can only assume that second prize was two weeks there....

The Fox and the Peacock - Actual news, as we shan't have Joe Buck to kick around any longer:

Just when we all started getting used to watching the U.S. Open on Fox Sports, the USGA’s marquee championship looks like it’s about to move to a new broadcast home.

Or should we say move back to an old home.

The Associated Press reported on Sunday night that the U.S. Open will return to NBC beginning with this year’s championship at Winged Foot, scheduled for Sept. 17-20 after being postponed from its original June dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report stated that the move, which is expected to be announced formally on Monday, is a response to Fox Sports asking out of its current contract with the USGA, which runs seven more years through 2026.

NBC had broadcast the U.S. Open and other USGA championships from 1995 to 2014 before the USGA surprised many by signing a 12-year deal with Fox, which had not previously broadcast any PGA Tour events. Golf Digest reporting determined the deal came with a $1.1 billion price tag, $93 million a year.

One source told the AP that NBC would pick up the final seven years of the contract at roughly half the rights fee.

A Circle of Life moment for me, as I started this blog in 2014, when the Fox contract was a major story.  It was a disaster from day one, as that photo above will remind, though Fox can't be blamed for Chambers Bay.  But I very much agree with this:

I think they made great progress, and I'd prefer them to CBS without any hesitation.  Of course that photo above remind sof their signature moment, when DJ tragically 3-jacked the final green to hand the U.S. Open to Jordan Spieth.  Greg Norman, the man whose signature move involved tragically coughing up majors and was put in the booth presumably for just such a moment, had nothing to add.

You'll be shocked to know that, as always seems to be the case when discussing golf TV rights, it's all about the NFL:

The greater issue may have been a combination of economics, scheduling and the pending NFL rights deal. As Ferguson’s story notes, this fall’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot—if it goes forward—was going to be largely buried on Fox Sports 1, the cable network that motivated Fox’s excessive spend in the first place.

Shack sums up the news thusly, including revisiting the circumstances that led to the award of the rights to Fox:

Monday’s announcement following Sunday night’s orchestrated rollout to media should shed light on where other USGA events and early round coverage will land. We might also learn more about what precisely prompted the parties involved to work out the deal now. But if Ferguson and Flint are correct, FOX will be paying a significant amount of money annually to not televise USGA events.

Ultimately, however, the deal is a monster failure that should haunt the careers of Sarah Hirshland (now head of the U.S. Olympic Committee) and then-USGA president Glen Nager (since seen suing the United States). I’d probably include former USGA President Tom O’Toole in there too while we’re throwing monster point-missers under the bus.

For some background on the deal when it went down, I’d point you to the late, great Frank Hannigan’s Letter to this website back in September, 2013, which considers the issues involved in a USGA television negotiation.

That Frank Hannigan note is interesting indeed.  Though to me the bible on this stunning transaction was this Ron Sirak Golf Digest piece, which reminds us that the Fox gambit was driven largely by the USGA's coveting of Masters ratings.   Now, how smart does one need to be to understand the unique factors, including date and a familiar and exciting golf course, that make The Masters a glorious one-off?  That those running our major governing body can't understand such nuance is a little troubling, though these are the same guys that think we can never attract millennials to our game if they're require to absorb complicated terminology such as....well, all square?

But perhaps nothing captures this moment as well as revisiting the graphic that originally accompanied that Sirak piece:

Upon further review, I'm thinking that the Peacock got the better of this transaction.  

In Praise of Short Par-3's - I've meant to dive deeper on this subject, which I've touched on briefly in the context of links courses.  Notwithstanding those two new holes at Portrush last summer, it's not often that we have brand new golf holes on Open Rota courses:

Speaking of Hoylake, I played their new par-three hole last week, which will be the 17th on the card when the Open does return.

Leaving aside the two new holes showcased when Portrush returned to the rota last year, this will be the first time we've seen a brand new hole on one of the established Open courses in recent memory. 

It's good to report, therefore, it's a beauty, with dramatic views over to Hilbre Island, and quite a talking point too in these days of ever-longer courses, given it measures under 130 yards.

It looks suitably spectacular:

I love these shorties...  The combination of wind and firm conditions makes distance control quite the challenge, notwithstanding the length.  The other issue with Hoylake is when we'll see this new hole.  It was originally slotted for 2022, but would be pushed back at least a year based upon no Open this year.  Troon was awarded the '23 Open to coincide with their centenary, wants to hold that date and push Liverpool to 2024.

Amusing, given the length of this new hole, this is Royal Liverpool's club motto:  

Not so much of the former, but the latter remains operative.

Shack, sticking to that which he knows best, has news of another newly-restored short Par-3 at a very different type of venue:

I thoroughly enjoyed this fourteen-minute Oak Hill restoration video and narrated by Rich Lerner. It gets downright emotional at a point when almost all of Donald Ross’s original Postage Stamp 15th is restored.

Bradley Klein kindly called the asinine Fazio-addition “ridiculous” in previewing the 2013 PGA, and if you feel confident in your digestion system, you should get one last look at it in that story. It really is one of the great architectural acts of vandalism. 

Mericfully, the club and architect Andrew Green have brought back the original, minus the right bunker included in Ross’ original plan. The finished product looks like it’ll (re)join the list of tournament golf’s iconic short par-3s when the club hosts the 2023 PGA Championship and, as announced last week, the 2027 U.S. Amateur.

That video is here, though I'll confess that I haven't watched it yet:

But that Bradley Klein item is good fun, especially when combined with Geoff going medieval on Fazio.  Some things just never get old...

First, here's Klein's take on that Fazio 15th:

Hole No. 15, Par 3, 181 yards 

From the sublime to the ridiculous. Here’s a downhill par-3 with a newly redesigned green that snakes along a pond on the right. The shirt-waist thin green is narrowest in the middle, and offers up two bunkers pinching into the green that cannot be seen from the tee. In an effort to drum up populist appeal the PGA of America is running a “pick-the-hole location” contest whereby fans at home can decide which of four pre-selected hole locations will be used Sunday.

The only thing missing is the waterfall... But this hole aside, Klein briefly sums up the serial desecration the Oak Hill Greens Committee allowed:

This is the third PGA Championship held at venerable old Oak Hill East, a 1924 design by Donald Ross. His telltale smallish greens remain, as does most of his routing. In 1955, Robert Trent Jones Sr. tossed out most of Ross’ characteristic fairway bunkering that intruded diagonally across the line of play and replaced it with hazards left and right. In 1978, George and Tom Fazio introduced their flouncy style of capes and bays bunkers. They also decided that with Allens Creek running only modestly through the property alongside five fairways, the layout needed more pizzazz, so they created three new greens that sat flush upon water. 

The club spent the next 35 years fixing those awkwardly overdone greens, most recently by Tom Fazio in time for this year’s championship.

Blessed with a Donald Ross classic, they just couldn't leave well enough alone, could they?  And it's even worse than that, because they couldn't just pick one horse to ruin it.  No, they needed both Trent Jones and the Fazios, justifying their own dedicated ring of hell.

I shall release you here to the rigors of your work week.  I would expect to see you again tomorrow, though I've golf planned for both Wednesday and Thursday.