A little bit of this, a little of that....This post was started Thursday morning but not finished until Friday, so please excuse any loss of continuity.
Ladies Week - It's hard to keep track of their 63 majors, but I'm told this week is a big one. Beth Ann Nichols is the acknowledged authority on the women's game, and she has exciting news:
The question from KPMG was simple: What’s the LPGA’s No. 1 pain point?
Answer: The lack of statistics and analytics.
Gee, silly me. I would have guessed the lack of fans, television viewers and sponsors, but what do I know?
But KPMG, a Hall of Fame kind of LPGA partner, wanted to do more. Closing the outrageously wide analytics chasm between the men’s and women’s game seemed a natural fit for the goal of continuing to elevate the women’s game.
Don't need a weatherman to know Lexi can't putt.
“We do data and analytics for a living,” said Paul Knopp, KPMG U.S. Chair and CEO.
The KPMG Performance Insights technology platform launches this week at Atlanta Athletic Club, though players and caddies took part in a soft launch, gathering data in the weeks leading up to the event.
The official release for the program described the LPGA’s current stats program as “similar to what some weekend golfers calculate after their rounds.” That’s precisely accurate.
Wasn't this, yanno, Mike Whan's job?
The PGA Tour model depends upon an infinite supply of unpaid volunteers, so here's how it will work this week:
The KPMG program will be similar to what’s on the European Tour, with caddies recordingshots, club selections and the lie of every shot. They’ll turn in a special scorecard after every round and get paid a stipend for the efforts. KPMG is covering that, too.
Overall strokes gained and strokes gained by game area (off the tee, approach, around the green, putting) will be available as well as deeper insights into individual strokes gained by 25-yard increments and individual shots taken. Players, fans and media will know how close players hit it on average from certain distances. There will be shot dispersion charts, average birdie putt length and performance indexing over time against the field.
Again, they couldn't do this for themselves why?
Shack had this amusing bit in his take on the announcement:
So it’s nice to read the first step with KPMG continuing their pretty relentless push at bettering the Women’s PGA this week at Atlanta Athletic Club.
Ummmm, Geoff, if your objective was to better the KPMG Women's PGA, wouldn't it be more helpful to not go to Atlanta Athletic Club?
Also not helping is Zephyr Melton, with his five storylines to watch at the aforementioned KPMG:
4. Lexi Thompson looks to bounce backWhen talking about major championship droughts, it’s impossible for Lexi Thompson’s name not to come up. She came agonizingly close at the U.S. Women’s Open before a Sunday back-nine collapse, and so her major total remains at one.
The good news for Thompson is that before her meltdown at Olympic, she exuded a newfound perspective on the course. Scowling glares were replaced with smiles and laughs, giving fans a different look at the 26-year-old veteran. Whether or not the new mentality will be enough to offset the scar tissue from Olympic’s back nine will be one of the biggest questions of the week.
Admittedly, the ladies' party line that they're just as good as the men is far more plausible after watching Bryson, Rory, Morikawa and Russell Henley play the back nine at Torrey.... Still, See How She Blows It This Time™ seems a tough sell.
Of course there is one storyline that can make us eager to watch Lexi, and Zephyr is all over it:
5. Michelle Wie West continues comeback tour
Wie West returns to competition this week in Atlanta where she looks to survive the cut at a major for the first time in three years. At the ANA Inspiration earlier this spring, she was in contention after Round 1, so the talent remains with the 31-year-old, but the consistency to put it together for four rounds has eluded her. The chase continues at the Women’s PGA.
You're trying to sell the women's tour based upon Lexi and Wiesy? If you were trying to convince people not to watch, what would you do differently?
I Saw It On TV - Shack does a deep dive on U.S. Open ratings, and it's not a pretty picture that he paints of our governing body. First, the he4adline numbers:
NBC Sports announced U.S. Open ratings on Tuesday and in a nutshell: the USGA’s crown jewel continues to struggle since its 2015 move to Fox:
- Jon Rahm’s win averaged 5.7 million final round viewers on NBC and peaked at 8.93 million.
- By contrast the 2021 Masters averaged 9.4 million viewers on CBS and peaked at 12.89 million.
- The 2021 PGA Championship averaged 6.58 million viewers on CBS and peaked at 13.05 million.
Geoff with the deep background:
Back in 2013 when the USGA decided not to renew their NBC Sports/ESPN deal in favor of Fox, the brains behind that move believed the USGA and U.S. Open were underserved by the existing partners.
Then-USGA President Glen Nager saw that the U.S. Open garnered a 9.0 to the Masters’ 8.4 one year and hinted the declines since that time were, in part, an NBC/ESPN problem. He and a committee of cohorts steered the rights to Fox in what felt like a mix of shortsightedness, greed, horrible advice and even a whiff of politics. (That would be right (Fox) vs. left (NBC) politics.)
“I told them that if you went back to the '70s and looked at TV ratings and other indicia of what makes a championship great, the U.S. Open was considered the premier major championship in golf," Nager told Golf Digest’s Ron Sirak at the time. “And that if we looked at indicia today, the Masters is considered the No. 1 major in golf. I said I wanted to work with a media partner that had a proposal to elevate the U.S. Open and the other USGA championships and the USGA as a governance organization.”
Maybe Nager should have consumed some indica instead of touting indicia?
While he was not totally wrong, the indicia suggests the organization has been playing catch-up ever since the fateful Fox decision.
Props to Shack for the oh-so-trendy pot pun, though there's a body of thought that indica might have been a necessary precondition to giving Fox the contract.
That linked Ron Sirak piece is the definitive take on the USGA's folly. Their fatal conceit was to covet the Masters' ratings, compelling them to take steps to ensure that their flagship event, the U.S. Open, would earn Masters-like ratings... Mission accomplished, although it's the Qatar Masters whose ratings they've equaled...
Fox’s intent with the deal was to prop up Fox Sports 1 with more sports properties. They promised all sorts of shoulder programming devoted to the USGA that never happened (like a golf show with Holly Sonders).
While the Fox years did eventually deliver some great telecasts and forced other networks to innovate, the damage to the U.S. Open was done. The combination of awful ratings, weird U.S. Open antics and the lost synergies of NBC and ESPN quickly put the USGA off the golf radar. Golf Channel executives openly ignored USGA events on their airwaves—I can attest when wanting to talk some USGA events on Morning Drive and being told no—and few could ever find Fox Sports 1. Hell, I still can’t.
Not helping the USGA’s cause? The demise of amateurism, Tiger Woods becoming a non-U.S. Open factor since his 2008 win, and too many other big tournaments to watch from January to July.
I agree with Geoff on the actually quality of the Fox broadcast, though Geoff ignores the extent to which the USGA shot itself in the foot with bizarre venue decisions, not to mention screwing up the set-up at Shinnecock a record twice consecutively...
More details, as if needed:
So what happened at the 2021 U.S. Open to highlight the poor “engagement” for this year’s championship?
In a short press release (posted below), the details were minimal but some intriguing claims were made:
- ‘21 was called the second most-watched U.S. Open in five years, but these were all Fox broadcasts we’re talking about and those always drew underwhelming ratings.
- In citing 2019 as the only Open out-rating this year’s edition, Tiger’s name was invoked as the reason Fox did better. He finished T21 at Pebble that year and was never in it.
- No Saturday third round ratings were shared despite the golf finishing at 9 pm ET. Could the numbers really be that bad?
- The 2020 U.S. Open was the lowest-rated of all time and should be ignored. Yet it was used for all comparison purposes. The 2021 final round was up 76%! But last year’s Open was played in the fall against college and NFL football. It drew a 2.0 final round rating.
- Friday’s second-round coverage (12:30-6 p.m. ET) averaged nearly 1.4 million TV-only viewers to rank as the Golf Channel’s most-watched weekday telecast on record dating to 2006. By contrast, ESPN’s Friday Masters (2.68 million) and PGA Championship telecasts (1.43 million) beat an all-time record show for Golf Channel. This suggests ESPN’s distribution reach and more functional ESPN+ would have helped U.S. Open viewership.
- The final Nielsen rating number has not been released for either weekend day. Only the Total Audience Delivery estimates. But based on the numbers shared, it’s probably around a 3.4. Not exactly the indicia Nager had in mind.
That Sirak article is telling in the absence of any sense within the USGA for why the Masters would draw so many more eyeballs, and the reflexive need to blame it on their media partner. Obviously the only thing they've accomplished is to diminish their birthright, and have done a pretty efficient job of taking the U.S. Amateur down with it.
Don't Much About History - Alistair Tait performs a vital service in making us aware of the passage of an important date, but makes quite the curious choice in terms of accompanying photo. Here's his lede:
You have to wonder what Old Tom Morris would make of golf as it is today if he could be magically reincarnated and transported from his resting place in the cemetery at St Andrews Cathedral and placed gently on the 18th hole of the Old Course, the hole named after him?Today’s is Old Tom Morris Day, the 200th anniversary of his birth on North Street in the auld grey toon on the 16th June 1821.Old Tom might not be able to stand on the 18th green too long staring at the flag that bears his name as St Andrews celebrates the bicentenary of his birth. Low handicap golfers on the 18th tee might be launching tee shots into him from the tee 354 yards away!Wonder how close Old Tom ever got to the 18th green in his heyday?Old Tom was the Champion Golfer of his era until son Young Tom took over. Old Tom won The Open four times – 1861, 1862, 1864 and 1867 – only to be upstaged by his son, who won it four years in a row.The elder Morris certainly knew his way around the Old Course. Old Tom not only learned to play on the links of his hometown, he was appointed greenkeeper to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1865, a position he officially held until his retirement in 1904, and then continued in an advisory role until his death in 1908.What would Old Tom make of the R&A going out with the boundaries of the course for modern Open Championships to provide a sterner test for today’s players? What would he have made of the Rory McIlroy’s and Dustin Johnson’s hitting 360 yard bombs, driving the greens at the ninth, 10th, 12th and 18th holes in ideal conditions? Turning the 17th into a drive and pitch par-4 when there’s no wind?
Not a terribly interesting argument, i suspect you'll agree. In fact, is there a field of human endeavor about which the same couldn't be asked?
What I do find interesting is the accompanying photo Tait uses. That was the preserved Old Tom Morris shop as it existed until about 2018:
The British Open’s official Twitter account posted news Monday that The Open Store, theflagship shop that will sell official merchandise for the 147th Open at Carnoustie, had opened in a building adjacent to the 18th green of St. Andrews’ Old Course.
One problem: That building’s address is 15 The Links in St. Andrews, which is also the site of the historic Tom Morris Golf Shop.
The historic shop has been around since 1866 and was originally where Old Tom Morris, a four-time Open champion, spent much of his time as the Old Course’s greenskeeper, manufacturing golf clubs, balls and more. The Links Trust, which maintains and protects St. Andrews’ seven courses, has owned the shop since 2010. A few years later the shop was renovated and during that time Morris’ old locker was discovered along with his wood-working bench and marks on the floor from club-making.In recent years the shop had been restored by The Links Trust and become a must-see historical site for visitors and locals, who were treated to a display of many of Morris’ collections and original furniture from the shop.
Judging by pictures posted be The Open’s Twitter account, the old signs that displayed the name of the shop, “Tom Morris Shop,” and the years of Morris’ Open victories are gone, replaced by two blue Open-logoed signs.
For the second time in its 136-year history, the (British) Amateur Championship is being played over the links at Nairn, on the shores of the Moray Firth in the endlessly picturesque Scottish Highlands.
As has become the norm in these interminable Covid-19 times, the championship – one won by the likes of Bobby Jones, Frank Stranahan, Doug Bachli, Michael Bonallack, Jose Maria Olazabal, Jay Sigel, Sergio Garcia, Vinny Giles, Joe Carr and Matteo Manassero – isn’t following its usual trajectory this year. For one thing, the usual 288-man starting line-up was cut in half. And for another, a ‘card count-back’ rather than the traditional preliminary round was used to break what turned out to be a 16-way tie for 58th place and determine the last seven of the 64 qualifiers for match-play.
Got that? They're qualifying folks into match play based upon a friggin' match of cards.... Nothing says integrity and fidelity to tradition quite like a match of cards. Who knows, maybe they did us a favor in not holding and Open last year.
As noted in the intro, the above was written Thursday, but I awoke to this further news from R&A land:
A series of strict COVID protocols has drawn the ire of some PGA Tour players leading into next month’s Open Championship, with some considering a boycott of the prestigious event and others simply miffed by the regulations.
“I’m going to go because it’s the British Open. But I certainly thought about not going. I just can’t believe with the numerous examples of successfully run safely held tournaments and majors here that they can’t figure out a better situation,” the player said.
“If someone on your plane tests positive on way to the British and is sitting anywhere close to you, you’re out no questions asked, no matter if you’re vaccinated. It’s aggravating that they deem the tournament safe enough for 32,000 fans a day to attend, but won’t let a player’s wife, children travel and watch the tournament, nor will they even let players visit a restaurant without threat of disqualification.”
According to the note Golfweek obtained that was sent to players, caddies and coaches by the R&A, those on different player teams will not be allowed to stay together, which makes things difficult for many who travel in support of players.
“The up-to-four persons [regulation] within private rental accommodation must be included within the players’ own support group … For example, multiple players or multiple caddies are not permitted to share private self accommodation,” the R&A email read. “We recognise this is difficult for many that used to share during the championship but the Government’s strict contact tracing requirements mean that this will not be possible in 2021.
All of which you'd take with a nod of head, until you remember that they're allowing 32,000 fans on site each day, leading to this rather obvious conclusion:
“They care more about the revenue of the fans buying beers than they do about the actual people participating in the tournament,” said the player who spoke with Golfweek. “Any fan can go to a grocery store or a restaurant and we can’t. Does that make sense? And I’m vaccinated. How does that make sense?”
And like so many of our public health officials, they don't seem to have a lot of faith in the efficacy of the vaccines.
#AskAlan, The collective pants-wetting and trouser-soiling that occurred (on holes 11 to 13 alone) is a stark reminder of why Tiger is still so revered. Golf yearns for anyone who can forge a lead and keep their underpants clean until the end of a major tournament.@VsTgolf
Indeed, and that’s what made Rahm’s finish so thrilling – his tighty-whities are surely pristine! (Sorry.) Tournament golf is such exquisite theater precisely because so many players suffer ignominious collapses. Collin Morikawa’s 7 was almost as ghastly as Rory McIlroy’s bunker-bunker-hosel double bogey, each of which proved fatal. And how about Bryson? He was one inch from an instantly iconic ace on the 8th hole; even so, that pure iron shot propelled him into the lead…and then he self-immolated in utterly spectacular fashion. There is nowhere to hide on major championship Sundays and the vast majority of players shrink from the moment. Tiger set an impossible standard. Rahm will not be as efficient capitalizing on all of his opportunities—how could he be?—but that birdie-birdie finish betrayed a ruthlessness that offers hope that golf has finally found its next great closer.
But I had been reliably informed that Brooksie was the next great closer... They're great closers, at least until they're not...
Does the USGA return to Torrey? Architecture snobs aside, it’s given us two good U.S. Opens. @ShoshEAK
Good?! I would say epic. And I think the excitement of this one, along with pretty much universal praise from the players about the setup, guarantees the USGA will come back. Every dozen or so years is fine for Torrey Pines; it doesn’t have to be a core venue. It is obviously not the most architecturally interesting championship course but it provides a pleasing old-school Open test which brings out blockbuster leaderboards. You have to try really hard not to have enjoyed the two U.S. Opens at Torrey. Alas, there are a few chirpy try-hards in the golf media.
It was a fun Sunday for those with a passion for demolition derbies, but epic? I don't think we'll be talking about this one in ten years, so will call BS on that. It was fine, though Thursday-Saturday was certainly a snoozefest. Like Alan, I think they'll be back, but for reasons more related to it being a public venue and prime time TV broadcasts.
Golf has a full cast of fun-to-root-against Bond villains: Bryson, Brooks, Patrick Reed. Is Jon Rahm on the list? @PeteViles
Nah, he’s too thoughtful and sincere to be a villain. The guy has the most precious of commodities among pro golfers: soul, which was quite obvious Sunday evening in Rahm’s moving remarks about everything from his young son to his friendship with Phil Mickelson to the to the late journalist José Manuel Cortizas, who mentored Rahm as a young pro. (Cortizas died in February of COVID-19.) Rahm may blow his top every now and then but that’s not villainous; I like to see how hot he burns.
Yeah, Rahm's gonna get his clock punched one of these days, but it'll be because of his non-stop positivity... That crap is really triggering...
Rahm, Brooks or Bryson in a bar fight- who you got? @BobRoge321
Oh, Rahm for sure. He’s the guy who tries to play peacemaker, catches a wayward punch and then wipes out the whole bar. Brooks would be the lippy bitch who instigates the whole thing then winds up hiding behind his friends, still talking trash. Meanwhile, Bryson, whilst attempting the crane kick from Karate Kid, would fall down, hit his head, knock himself unconscious and miss the whole thing.
Good stuff, though there's more precedent for this kind of thing than you might imagine. For instance, there was this 2017 poll that posed this query:
The Question: If you were to be in a bar fight, who would you want to have your back?
The results were fragmented, though Brooksie was among those garnering support. But the winner might surprise you:
1. Ernie Els 15%
Sports Illustrated reported players saying things like, “we’ve heard stories about Ernie.”
The Big Easy is known for his drinking ability, so there’s a good chance people have seen him in action. It was claimed that he once got so drunk he thought he was invisible, which is slightly worrying if you need him to have your back. I wonder if you could rely on him before this level of insobriety was reached? He strikes me as a loyal bloke who wouldn’t be afraid to meet aggression with even more aggression, the ultimate wingman in a time of crisis.
I'll resist the temptation to excerpt it, but Keegan Bradley received support based upon his cage match with Miguel Angel Jimenez, including the video of that epic battle that ended with Keegan sitting in his courtesy car with his girlfriend's dog consoling him.
Did Rahm win it or did Louis lose it? @luke_peacock
Yes.
Fair enough.
#Ask Alan, What does Rory need to get it done? @HighFades
An exorcism.
I'd have gone with a lobotomy, but reasonable folks can disagree.
#AskAlan, Is Louie a questionable Hall of Fame candidate? @JStew68129215
Well, as I’ve typed many times before, the Hall of Fame induction is now a made-for-TV spectacle that desperately needs warm bodies to keep the show going, so every borderline candidate is eventually going to get in. Winning an Open at St. Andrews gets any player halfway to the Hall but King Louis simply hasn’t done enough to warrant serious consideration: 9 Euro tour wins but not a single one in the U.S. If he ever manages to snag a second major championship we can revisit this debate.
On the one hand, I completely agree that Louis' career doesn't include enough to merit canonization. That said, given the evolving (read, lower) standards implied by the selection of Couples and Montgomery, isn't he already in?
#AskAlan, Two-parter, probably not important to anyone else, but why do men insist on yelling, ‘Get in the hole!’? And why can’t that be stopped? Thanks, I feel better now. @JLFleming20
I think this is the domain of an anthropologist or perhaps Dr. Ruth, not a sportswriter. I would like to think it is pure, unfettered joy at potentially witnessing history that loosens the vocal cords of so many bros but I fear it may be baser instincts at play.
That's a shockingly compelling rationalization of the inexplicable. But before I accept it as the spoken gospel, now do "Mashed potatoes".
#AskAlan: 1. ) Is Rahm the best player with one major win? 2.) Why don’t they jump in the water on #18 at Torrey? 3.) Why do we expect a universe full of chaos to be fair? @Ryanlovesgolf93
- ) Yes, though Justin Thomas stans may disagree
- ) Dysentery
- ) We don’t need the universe to be fair. It’s not fair that such a pleasant fellow like King Louis can no longer win the big one. But we do want the universe to offer satisfaction, and in Rahm’s artful finish we got that.
Veddy interesting, at least that first bit. He doesn't specify, but it seems the category under consideration is limited to active players, because the first name that came to mind on a lifetime basis was Tom Weiskopf (with David Duval a close second). But even limiting ourselves to current players, on what basis would you rate Louis above JT, Webb Simpson or Jason Day, not to mention Bryson? Those guys have all won elsewhere, including the Players Championship for all but the latter.
Does the PGA Tour need to do something about players like Bryson who don’t yell fore? Basic etiquette. @brando_chris
It’s more than that, it’s a safety issue – just ask the poor woman who lost an eye at the Ryder Cup when Brooks Koepka pegged her with a drive. It is quite revealing which narcissists don’t even bother to signal or shout a warning, as if their misfortune at hitting a bad shot is all that matters, not the well-being of the paying customers who make it possible for them to exist in such a bubble.
I don't think that they can hear him where Bryson lands the ball, though that doesn't excuse at least pointing to your miss. I didn't know this was an issue for Bryson, but it's a curious thing for sure.
And today in recency bias:
Is Jon Rahm going to win the most majors of any European? @BCRafferty
That’s a tall mountain to climb: it will take six more to eclipse Nick Faldo and would make Rahm one of the dozen or so most accomplished players in history. I think he has the game and the heart to do it but so many things have to go his way over the next two decades. For sure, it will be fascinating to watch his pursuit of the all-time greats.
Isn't the more interesting question whether Rory will finish his career still stuck on four?
#AskAlan Should Koepka go back to letting his clubs do the talking? Absurd consistency in majors for sure, but he’s let a few get away after giving DJ a verbal slap and then all this DeChambeau nonsense. Kinda preferred him as the-man-with no-name-gunslinger-who-just-killed. @TheSecretDuffer
Yes, the Koepka brand has taken quite a hit over the last couple of years with his repeated failings in the majors. If you’re gonna be that mouthy it’s a bad look to keep retreating in crunch time. I appreciate that Koepka is a truth-teller but he would be wise to tone down the hubris just a little.
A truth-teller? He's a frat boy with an inferiority complex, but is that what passes for truth these days?
As another aside, Brooks has done some additional "truth-telling". explaining the origins of his feud with Bryson:
On Wednesday, speaking ahead of the Travelers Championship, Koepka shed some light on when he feels the disdain began.“I thought it was just interesting when he walked up to my caddie and told Ricky (Elliott) that if I had something to say, to say it to his face,” Koepka said. “I thought that was kind of odd, when you don’t walk up to my face, and say it to my caddie.”He would seem to be referring to a conversation the two had during the 2019 Northern Trust at Liberty National. That came after Koepka had publicly called out slow players in an appearance on the Golf Monthly podcast. “I just don’t understand how it takes a minute and 20 seconds to hit a golf ball,” Koepka said. “It’s not that hard.” He didn’t call out DeChambeau by name, but it was widely seen as a reference to a European Tour video that showed DeChambeau taking an exorbitant amount of time to play a wedge shot. At Liberty, DeChambeau and Koepka spoke before their final rounds, and DeChambeau told reporters that he “just wanted to clear the air.”On Wednesday at the Travelers, Koepka also suggested he and DeChambeau had come to some sort of agreement during that conversation two years ago.“And when we had that conversation, we agreed on something and he went back on it,” Koepka said Wednesday. “So, if you’re gonna go back on your word, I don’t have much respect for that.”
Thanks for sharing.... Maybe it's truth, but it's certainly not the whole truth.
And this question that will follow Alan in perpetuity:
Who do you think will win the Ryder Cup and the score? @robertjstroud
Oh, man, here we go. I still believe the U.S. is going to go on a run and take control of the Cup but it’s gonna be stressful as always, so let’s say 14.5-13.5. Which, of course, means that Europe is likely to win 17-11.
Alan's 2017 prediction of the forthcoming era of U.S. Ryder Cup dominance is the funniest thing I've heard since I was reliably informed that Dewey defeated Truman.
That'll have to sate you for now. Have a good weekend and I'll see you again on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment