Weekend Wrap

This week is always a meaningful mile marker for me, as the circus travels from the Left Bank to the Right.  Oh, there's quite the architectural and scenic downgrade, as a Riviera-PGA National cage match would be stopped by the ref in the first round.  But the deeper significance is that it puts us in that clear glide path to Augusta...

City of Champions - This might be the only one that doesn't come with an asterisk, but let's hear it for the home-town kid:

Dodgers, Lakers, Max Homa!

On the City of Champions spectrum, Max is a distant third. Heck, Collin Morikawa should be in there too after winning a major last August.

But who cares? Local boy makes good. Local boy saves writers from having to write a Sam Burns story. That alone is a World Golf Hall of Fame stuff. And then Homa goes and gives great quotes!

The cheery ending, coupled with Tony Finau posting 64 ahead of Homa and leading to a 10th hole playoff, almost help make up for the lack of fans. Naturally the rain dance this event normally provides for the region was played under spectacularly sunny skies and a (most days) playable golf course.

 Homa’s win is particularly sweet given the Genesis Invitational’s grand history, longevity and relatively small number of local winners. He joins southern Californians Corey Pavin (1994, 1995) and John Merrick (2013) as recent winners with ties to the region.

The winner has been coming to the event since he was two, was there for the bizarre 2005 playoff, cited this event as one of his inspirations to purse pro golf, and, best of all, Homa worshipped host Tiger Woods growing up. Woods subsequently handed him the Genesis trophy. Woods has never won the tournament he hosts.

Yup, he's one-up on his hero...Homa is best known for his amusing social media takes on amateurs' swings, and a very easy young man to root for.  The manner in which he prevailed will only enhance his reputation, but first more of his take on the accomplishment:

Homa explained where an LA Open win ranks on his tournament bucket list.

“1-A, 1-B, 1-C,” he said. “I don't know if I could ever do anything cooler in golf than this. Just for me, for my caddie Joe, we were raised 25miles north of here. I mean, Tiger Woods is handing us a trophy, that's a pretty crazy thought. We grew up idolizing him, idolizing Riviera Country Club, idolizing the golf tournament. To get it done, it's almost shocking, but it just feels--it feels like it just can't be topped just for me.”

 This all comes from Geoff's blog, so it's one home-town kid writing about another...

At my age it's easier to keep thinks chronological, so about that 72nd hole, where he stuffed his approach and seemingly locked up the win.  Errrr, not so fast:

Statistically Max Homa had a 99.57% chance of converting the 3-footer for birdie on the 72nd

hole of the Genesis Invitational, but then there is no room for statistics in the chambers of the human heart.

In 11 events this season on the PGA Tour Homa, who is as L.A. as palm trees and Dodger dogs, had been predictably automatic, like most Tour types, from that distance. But not all 3-footers are created equal and the slider for birdie and victory at the event that means more to him than any other might as well have been 30 feet.

Homa, who grew up 30 minutes north of Riviera, admitted he was “shaking like a leaf” over the game-winner on the iconic 18th hole and the only saving grace was that the empty pandemic gallery wasn’t there for a collective gasp.

The next point to interject is that in a normal year, they would have replayed No. 18 to start the playoff.  Of course, normal left town with no forwarding address, so they instead headed to No. 10, which our Friday blogging set up perfectly.  We had Jordan Spieth explaining then how one just sort of aims for the trees and closes one's eyes....  Here's Max:

The famous short par-4 was playing just 282 yards and was getting the first playoff hole nod over

the 18th hole due to the lack of fans on site.

Hitting second, the 30-year-old slightly pulled his tee shot and was up against one of the Bottlebrush let to defend the hole because the USGA and R&A chose to take the last decade off.

“Ten's a crazy hole. Talor Gooch and I were talking about it on 11 today during the regulation round. A lot of people don't like it, I love it. I think golf could use a little chaos at times.”

Chaos he got, at least upon finding his tee shot at the brush base.

“You kind of aim at these trees and kind of see what happens,” he continued. “I hit a good tee ball, I pulled it probably five yards left of where Tony was, which is kind of where you wanted to hit it. Yeah, what are you going to be mad about when you make a good swing when you're nervous. Obviously had a weird looking shot but I had a shot, which is cool.”

At which point one can only imagine that Tony Finau thought his nightmare was coming to an end....But I think we can all agree that golf could use a whole lot more chaos, though Sunday chaos, as opposed to the Saturday chaos we absorbed.

Here's the kid's take on the shot he pulled off:

“Obviously had a weird looking shot, but I had a shot, which is cool,” Homa said afterward. “Took a 50-degree out and just hooded it as much as I could to get it started as left as I could with some tumble spin, because going into that kikuyu uphill it all sticks, so I tried to land it as low into the hill as I could to get it rolling.”

Tumble spin?  Is that anything like topspin?

 As always, behind every successful man is....well, at least sometimes:

That was a cleansing moment for Homa, who needed to wash away the disappointment of

missing a four-foot putt on 18 that would have won him the tournament. He and Finau hit for a few minutes on the range before the playoff, giving Homa some time to check his text messages.

“This morning, my wife gave me a piece of advice,” he said. “There were a few bullet points, [but] one of them was `forgive quickly.’ She called me after, told me to do that, and it was kind of perfect because I had played a pretty perfect round of golf, very flawless. So what was there to be too mad about? I was about to be in a playoff at the place I first fell in love with golf.”

Forgiveness, eh?  Might be worth a try...

The weekly Tour Confidential panel did eventually get to this subject, though I won't be too critical of their priorities this time.  Here's their take on all things Riviera, including a Mikey Bams rebuttal:

3. What a finish at the Genesis Invitational, at storied Riviera. Tied for the lead on the 72nd hole, local boy Max Homa, seeking his second PGA Tour win, stuffed his approach to three feet to seemingly edge Tony Finau, who closed with a rousing 64 and was also in pursuit of his second Tour title. Alas, Homa lipped-out the shortie, setting up a playoff that he went on to win on the second hole. What’s the key takeaway from this Sunday at Riv?

Bamberger: That watching good golf on a good course in good weather featuring appealing players is a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon when your own course is buried in snow.

Zak: That — *shouting for the golf fans in the back* — the most exciting shots are almost never drives. There’s a weird little corner of golf viewing that is so hyped about distance that they think long drives are the most exciting shots in golf. Look at Homa’s approach into 18, his pitch from the base of a tree on 10, his approach into 14. All of that was as exciting as golf gets, and in the span of one hour.

Bamberger: Well said, Sean. I still think that the Presidents Cup at Melbourne was such an example of golf’s little shots being so much more interesting than its big ones.

The most exciting thing in our game is that which a golf ball does after contact with the turf...  And yes, Riviera and Royal Melbourne are soul mates, especially under the #firmandfast conditions we were treated to this year.

Bastable: Homa’s recovery shot from the base of that tree on 10 was a once-in-a-lifetimer. He probably couldn’t have done better if you gave him a small bucket of range balls. Staggeringly good, and it must have been so deflating to Finau, who had to be thinking about his victory speech when Homa’s ball came to rest where it did. The Homa Experience is something to behold. Dude is an absolute breath of fresh air (ironic, yes, in that he’s an L.A. native), and not just because of his Twittering. In his post-round interview, he was speaking of the power of positive affirmation and how he reminds himself 5-6 times a day — and especially when he gets in nervy situations — how good he has he has it (loving wife, loyal dog, the whole thing). It’s just golf, right? You blow a three-footer one hole, keep that chin up, because a hole later you might be making a miracle par you can tell your grandkids about.

A loving wife AND a loyal dog?  Should we be speaking of his white privilege?  Just kidding, this is most certainly not THAT kind of blog....

Kerr-Dineen: Homa has some serious mental toughness. To stuff a wedge shot seemingly for the win, only to throw it away, only to then get wildly unlucky on his ensuing tee shot, but come through anyway is hugely impressive. Lesser players would’ve buckled.

Dethier: Listening to Max Homa talk about his golf game makes me feel a little better. Not about his game or my own game or the professional game — just better, period. There’s a real irony to Homa’s fame, which has come through his Twitter swing roasts, when in reality he’s arguably the Tour’s most positive thinker. There’s a version of golf that’s cynical, defined by frustration and bad shots. Homa’s in pursuit of the other kind. The happier kind. What a satisfying hometown champ.

A good kid, a great venue and a satisfying result....  unless, of course, your name happens to be Tony Finau.

Now, about that Saturday:

4. A few hours into the start of Saturday’s third round in L.A., the Tour made a highly unusual decision when it suspended play for four hours due to high winds. (The moment that best exhibited the wild conditions was Keegan Bradley putting his ball off the 10th green.) Was halting play the right call?

Bamberger: Yes. Na’e wind, na’e gowf is great when the greens are 3s, but not when they are 13s.

Zak: In this instance, yes. With the sun shining in SoCal, unfortunately the optics weren’t great, but they cut the greens to run at 13 on the Stimp before thinking that winds would howl as early

as they did Saturday. The forecast lied or it was interpreted incorrectly. That’s what we get for playing outdoors! Sometimes it goes over the edge and this was clearly one of those moments.

Bastable: If Twitter was any indication, it was a largely unpopular decision. Let ’em suffer! was the general sentiment. Of course, unless you were on site at Riv, you really had no understanding of whether the course was or was not playable. J.B. Holmes had a stationary ball move on him. When that starts happening, it means it’s time to think hard about blowing the horn. One fair criticism was that the Tour shouldn’t have rolled the greens. That might have made enough of a difference that they could have played on. The R&A caught the same heat at the 2015 Open at St. Andrews when wind led to a nearly all-day suspension on Saturday. On shaggier greens, many felt, the field could have soldiered on.

Kerr-Dineen: No chance. The amount of terrible weather I was forced to play through during my junior golf career means I have exactly zero sympathy for weather-induced suspensions. If the greens are flooded, fine. Suspend it. If balls literally cannot stay still on the green, that’s okay, too. Anything outside of that is fair game.

Dethier: Once the conditions were what they were, I guess they had to take them off of Riviera’s slippery, slippery greens. But as caddie-turned-reporter John Wood said on Twitter, “Shouldn’t have cut the greens today. Roll them, but don’t cut them. Bad decision. Slow em down a touch and you could’ve played.”

 I'm shocked this doesn't happen more often.  The Tour got it very wrong, and here's why:

The forecast called for winds in the 10-15 mph range at 10 a.m. with the worst of the conditions not expected to arrive until 4 p.m., which would have been about an hour after play was scheduled to finish. Forecasts aren’t perfect, though, and as the field mulled around the iconic clubhouse searching for shelter, they weren’t looking for someone to blame so much as they just wanted to get back to work.

“It was just very extreme,” said Wyndham Clark, who was on the 16th hole when play was halted for the day for darkness. “We weren't to the really hard holes. I mean, seeing some of the pin placements and how they played after we went back out and how tough they were, it was definitely unfair I think earlier, for sure.”

Gee, a bad weather forecast, let me mark my calendar....  That 2015 stoppage was a wake-up call, especially given that play continued at all recreational courses in and around the Home of Golf.  However, the USGA and R&A hit the snooze button, so here we are.  It's an outdoor game, be we can only play outdoors under certain conditions...

Shack uses this meme with his paying customers early last week:

Riviera As A Masters Bellwether

Bay Hill too. The Honda Classic? Not so much.

Bay Hill?  It's paywalled, so we don't need to get into that, though Geoff does share this wonderful photo of the 1930 L.A. Open:

I can certainly see where a firm Riviera is a test of the skill set needed at Augusta, but there were some show ponies that took the weekend off:

 

Justin Thomas, +8

The world’s No. 3 player, whose grandfather, Paul, died February 6, just didn’t have it this week. During rounds of 77-73, he made six birdies but four doubles and six bogeys. One of the best ball-strikers in the game hit just 53 percent of his greens in regulation. Thomas had made 14 consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour.

Four doubles in 36 holes?  

Though as fast as the course played, this one is not surprising in the least:

Rory McIlroy, +7

After tying for fourth here in 2019 and tying for fifth last year, McIlroy was among the pre-tournament favorites but never got going. The world No. 7 made just three birdies in his two days and his string of 30 consecutive-made cuts worldwide came to an end. The four-time major winner is still in search of his first win since the 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions.

Bryson DeChambeau, +2

If spectators would have been allowed, they would have been in danger as the Mad Bomber sprayed tee shots all over the course and hit just six of 28 fairways in regulation. After opening with a 75 that sent him to the driving range deep into the night, the reigning U.S. Open champion rebounded with a 69 in the second round but came up short of the cut.

I was shocked on Thursday at how poorly Thomas and Bryson played...  JT in particular had no idea where the ball was going.

But for some reason the author of that items thinks this is a comparable

Padraig Harrington, +9

After spending 10 days in quarantine in a room overlooking the first tee at Pebble Beach after testing positive for COVID-19, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain drove overnight to get to Los Angeles Thursday morning – just six hours before his tee time. He hadn’t hit balls in 10 days – except for putts on the carpet in the hotel room – so it wasn’t a surprise he shot 75-76.

Here's a little pro tip on this journalism thing...   When the dog bites a man, that's not really much of a story...  So, next time, only call if Padraig bites the dog.

We'll exit on this e-mail from the great Bobby D. to which I awoke this morning:

Is it un-pc to note tomorrow that the last two tournaments have been won by Jews?

Yes.  Not that we toe the pc line here....

But more to the point, I'll concede you Daniel Berger, but Max Homa is Jewish?  I had no clue, but I googled that very question and got this:

That pretty much proves it.... Poor kid, now he'll be forced to renounce both his white and Jewish priviledge.  

Wither Tiger - Perhaps you reacted differently, but the continued refusal to share any detailed updates on his condition remains an annoyance for your humble blogger:

"I'm feeling fine, a little stiff," Woods said. "I've got one more MRI scheduled, and then I can

start doing more activities. I'm still in the gym doing rehab activities before gravitating towards more."

Woods would not commit to playing a tournament before the Masters, and when asked specifically about the year's first major championship, he said, "God, I hope so. But I've got to get there first. I don't have much wiggle room left. I've got only one back."

I've only got one back?  Thanks for clarifying...

It's not that I expect a commitment to the Masters (and Nantz was engaging in wishful thinking about a warm-up), but is it really too much to ask that he tell us whether he's hitting balls and what else he's able to do?  I mean, "rehab activities" is just a tad vague...

That Tc gang sounds a little fed up as well:

5. Tiger Woods, who hasn’t played on Tour since his latest microdiscectomy in late December, made an appearance in the CBS booth on Sunday afternoon. When asked whether he’d be healthy for the Masters in seven weeks, Woods said, “God I hope so. I’ve got to get there first. A lot of it is based on my surgeons and doctors and therapist and making sure I do it correctly. This is the only back I’ve got, I don’t have much more wiggle room left.” What did you read into Woods’ answer and overall demeanor?

Bamberger: That he has surgeons, plural. He looked and sounded exhausted. Low hat, all dark clothes. He looked like he was in hiding.

Zak: That he isn’t playing golf anytime soon. It sounds like a lot of his immediate future depends on this ominously-referenced MRI. Then there’s competitive golf, which is different. We are officially on Tiger Back Watch earlier than we expected. It’s not going to be fun.

Yeah, he was oddly passive about that MRI, as if it's all in the hands of those doctors... 

Bastable: The remark that most caught my ear had nothing to do with his back. Tiger revealed he’s using a new putter shaft that is the same length as his sand wedge. Why? Because he does putting drills with his wedge in which he tries to blade the ball in the equator. “I figured if I do a lot with that, I’ll lengthen my putter to the same length and it helped,” he said. Don’t look for this to be a trend that will take off in the weekend-hacker ranks.

That was a curious bit, for sure.  Lengthening the putter shaft would seem to be something one might do to lessen the pressure on one's back....

Dethier: My first instinct was to agree with you all; it doesn’t sound like he’ll be suddenly playing golf in a couple weeks. But I also think he’s just learned that it makes more sense to manage expectations rather than pretend he’s in perfect health all the time, even when he’s not, which was his team’s longtime M.O. He’s setting us up for a big-time comeback come April. Let’s hope he can deliver the goods.

Kerr-Dineen: I can’t get a read on Tiger whenever he talks about injury stuff. After so many years of him being evasive on questions like these, nowadays he seems to be more honest and forthcoming about it than those asking him the questions. My gut tells me there’s no way Tiger isn’t playing the Masters this year, but my head remains scrambled.

Yanno, Dylan, he could share some actual information while simultaneously managing our expectations.  I mean we know he can play golf and chew gum at the same time, so they're not mutually exclusive.

Wither Golf - Riffing on that TC panel is low impact blogging, so shall we see what else is on their plate in the present moment?  Sorry, that was a rhetorical question:

1. The USGA named outgoing LPGA commissioner Mike Whan as its new executive director and CEO, replacing Mike Davis. Whan, who will assume the role this summer, was largely regarded as a transformative figure in the women’s game as he helped increase the total purse money for the LPGA and oversaw the addition of 10 tournaments to the schedule. Whan takes over the job during a period in which the USGA and R&A are hatching plans to combat the distance boom. In what ways, if any, do you think Whan will most influence the governing bodies’ tactics on this matter?

Transformative?  Some late-term bobbles aside, he did a great job for the ladies, though I don't see the basis for that adjective...

Michael Bamberger: I think he will recognize that the USGA needs to be broadly WAY better liked by, and more popular with, golfers of all stripes, and that will empower the USGA to pursue its agenda.

This is the gist of that Frank Hannigan remark.  I think a ruling body that wants to be liked is pretty much how we got where we are... 

Sean Zak: He won’t seem like an opponent in the way Mike Davis was often viewed by many of the game’s best players. That’s step 1 and it’s probably already accomplished by him being on social media, being somewhat self-deprecating (see his TV work during the LPGA season last year) and amicable with media. Between hiring him and Jason Gore, I don’t anticipate any of the “Justin, we need to talk” moments we’ve had in the past.

Mike Davis as black-hatted villain seems a stretch, though we can all agree that mistakes were made.  My own reaction focused on Davis' repeated requests for mulligans, which struck me as more pitiful than villainous.

Alan Bastable: I wouldn’t expect Whan to shake things up too radically on the distance-capping front. The USGA will continue to inch toward some semblance of reform but never put too many shackles on the manufacturers. Remember, Whan worked for Wilson and TaylorMade before jumping to the LPGA so he has a soft spot for the equipment builders.

Luke Kerr-Dineen: It’s hard to know what Mike Whan will do at the USGA. The job ahead of him is a very different one, with an entirely different set of problems to address and powers to solve them. But while the specifics remain to be seen, the value of bringing in the previous commissioner of the women’s game shouldn’t be understated. Women’s golf at the professional, amateur and recreational levels, done right, are huge potential growth opportunities for the USGA. And now, in Whan, they have the perfect person to fuel it.

Dylan Dethier: Honestly, I have no idea. I’m still unclear on what direction the USGA is taking the distance dilemma, and while they’ve laid plenty of groundwork for some sort of rollback/bifurcation combination, I don’t know whether the wheels are fully in motion and Whan just has to keep the train on the tracks or whether he’ll dictate a vision of his own.

I'm trying to understand what the USGA saw in Whan, and what his mandate is.  Interesting that these writers don't seem to have any better sense of it than an outside like myself.

Like it or not, the moment is about the regulation of golf equipment, and it feels like a now or never moment.  That we have no clue where Mike Whan is on this issue is more than a little curious, and his background being the women's game and equipment industry allows for rampant speculation.  

The TC gang does milk it for another Q&A:

2. What other issue would you like to see Whan make a priority in his first 100 days?

Bamberger: Introduce and sell the idea that serious golf and recreational golf really are different forms of the same sport, so that recreational golf can be played far faster and much more simply.

Zak: Couldn’t agree more. Prove Rory and JT wrong with their initial distance comments. Show that the USGA isn’t just thinking about the .001% of players like many pros have insinuated. There are two hilariously different subsets of players on this planet and the USGA cares deeply about both, as well as courses, records, etc.

Bastable: Surely further promoting the women’s game will be near the top of his agenda, as it should be. Girls under 18 represent the fastest growing demo in the U.S. golf population — there’s a huge opportunity (and responsibility) there for the game to foster those young players and ensure they become a thriving and exciting part of the golf’s near-term future. The USGA should lead that charge.

Kerr-Dineen: To forget about the elite levels of the game, and focus instead on the rank-and-file. The new golfers. There are more of them flooding into the game than ever before, and the USGA needs to welcome them them with open arms.

Dethier: Continue to elevate the U.S. Women’s Open in every way possible. It’s such a fun event with so much potential for growth. While Luke is right about the golf industry being so much more than the professional game, I’d love to see the biggest event in the women’s game continue to draw more attention.

I'd like Mike to expand on his answer, because I'm unclear whether he's making the case for bifurcation or not.

Of course the USGA cares about recreational golfers, I just think the guys overstate the USGA's ability to change much on the ground.  Remember, golf is enjoying its moment because of the pandemic, not because of anything our governing organizations have done.  And that's really how it should be...Less is more.

Snow Daze - Everyone and their brother are sharing pics of golf courses under the white stuff.  We had some good ones, and now we have this Golf Digest gallery with more.  We've done the Scotland thing, but can anyone ID this course?

That's famed Newport Country Club, where snow is a rarity...

Good to know that Whistling Straits looks every bit as artificial under a blanket of snow as it does raw:

Friend of the blog Mark W, writes from sunny Naples, FL to share some of his images of the Auld Grey Toon in a decidedly un-grey palate:

Which is the prefect segue for this, having absolutely nothing to do with the game of golf:

"Lord Coldemort, reporting for duty." Imagine hearing that over a dispatch radio. Guess what? It's a real name, for a real snow plow in Scotland, because the Scots clearly know how to have more fun with things -- this is from the country that gave us Boaty McBoatface, after all.

You may recall last December, social media began picking up on the fact Scotland names its whole snow plow fleet and a map of the current active plows began pushing into viral status. On first glance, some of the names may not make sense to people in the US, but note the country calls these vehicles "gritters" -- that makes "Gritney Spears" make much more sense. This week, social media again took note when revamped names started appearing on the national map of snow plows. The pun game is still very strong.

My personal favorites? "Buzz Iceclear," and "Sweet Child O' Brine." Very good stuff, Scotland.

Who else do we have here? Ah, yes, "Megameltasaurus" was out for deployment, as was "Creedence Clear-Road Revival." Let's not forget about "License to Chill" or "On Her Majesty's Slippery Surface." The James Bond references are strong with the Scots. "Spreddie Van Halen" is another name worthy of our round of applause.

And here's that interactive map, so you'll be on a personal basis with your local gritter"

The gritter names this year are off the scale. pic.twitter.com/y12H2LWjBI

— Guffers (@gavmacn) February 7, 2021

What's scary is to think what names would be permissible here in the current moment....  Perhaps we should not go there, but nice to see that somewhere a sense of humor has remained intact.

See you guys later in the week...