Weekend Wrap

I must admit that I entertained thoughts of blogging the Farmers yesterday morning but, you know, Luke List just didn't have the juice to get me out of my easy chair.  

Another Saturday Night - And I ain't got nobody.... Sorry, wrong blog.

So, List v. Zalatoris in the gloaming:

It was early in the evening on the California coast, the sun having already dipped in a spectacular canvas of burnt orange and blue. Luke List peered into the near-darkness and up in front of him,

about a football field away, he could barely make out the stick with a yellow flag atop it.

The 37-year-old would have been excused for pondering how difficult this would be to play a precise shot in light better meant for moon gazing. He could have had the ready excuse of a nearly two-hour wait after finishing his final round at the Farmers Insurance Open to be in this position, in a playoff against Will Zalatoris. He could have let the mental scar tissue of 205 winless pro starts on the PGA Tour overcome him.

Instead, in that moment, List drew on the mantra he repeated to himself before he arrived on the extra hole: “I told myself if I was going to be in a playoff, I was going to birdie the hole,” he said.

Not that it means anything, but the rabbit had grazed here previously:

A year ago, List rallied with a Sunday six-under-par 66 on Torrey South to finish tied for 10th. This time, he shot 66 to get to a 15-under total in a cauldron with some of the game’s most accomplished players. Major champions and past Farmers Open winners Jon Rahm, Jason Day and Justin Rose all were within striking distance over the final holes. Rahm, who shot 72-71 on the weekend, and Day, with bogeys on two of the last three holes for 72, missed the playoff by one, as did Cameron Tringale (70). Rose (68) finished earlier and was in position to tie List’s clubhouse lead, but found the pond at 18 with his 5-wood approach and bogeyed.

Yeah, that's the first point to make, that the day seemed to be teed up for a bold-faced name to seize the event, including Justin Thomas in addition to the names above.  My general rule in such circumstances is to root for the guy that needs it most, and that 205 number pretty much seals that case.   Plus, Employee No.2 has taken an intense dislike to Will Zalatoris, so in the interest of marital comity...

Ironically, the guy he lost to provides the template for Will Z.:

Luke List changed ‘everything’ about his putting, then won

This being the money graph:

Okay sure, it sounds daunting, but for Luke List, changing everything stopped being much of an option late last year. It was then that List, 37, realized he’d been a full-time PGA Tour member for seven years, and during that time, he’d likely been the worst putter in professional golf.

Well, men's golf perhaps, because Lexi has retired the Championship Belt of bad putting....

Before diving behind his paywall, Geoff has an amusing note about the privilege's of success, which in this case means that Luke gets a home game:

Luke List. After a two-hour wait, a first hole playoff win allowed the 37-year-old to capture an inaugural PGA Tour victory in his 207th start. List now makes his home in Augusta, something noted by Jim Nantz who risked life and limb to point out a Masters invitation was coming before offering a FedExCup update. The audacity to put a fantastic storyline over FEC impressions! List has made one Masters appearance, a T33 in 2005 as an amateur. (Ryan Moore was low amateur that year en route to the best score by an amateur since 1978 and a T13 finish.)

Good for him, though slightly surprised that he's been there the once. 

While I have a quibble or two, let me first congratulate the Tour Confidential panel for their second consecutive week with no Tiger questions.  I know, but baby steps, kids.  No interest in the winner might seem curious, though that runner-up is an interesting case for sure:

1. It was close but no cigar for Will Zalatoris at the Farmers Insurance Open, at Torrey

Pines, where the 25-year-old lost in a playoff to Luke List. After a memorable run in 2020 and most of last year while still a member of the Korn Ferry Tour, Zalatoris added 15 pounds in the offseason and tweaked his gear, adding a 46-inch driver. Zalatoris has already proven he can contend in majors, finishing runner-up at last year’s Masters. What does this performance, at another major venue, tell you about his potential?

Michael Bamberger: I’m surprised to see a player that young and that talented with such an unnatural-looking putting stroke. I guess the player that comes to mind for me is young Charlie Howell, or young Jodie Mudd. They were saying on TV how hard he works on his putting. Maybe he’s working too hard on it. I wonder how he putts as a lefty.

Wow, Jodie Mudd!  That's a name I haven't heard since I was a far younger man... 

Josh Sens: This weekend reinforced what we already knew about him. Epic talent who rises to the moment. But battles serious putting woes. That’s one of those, Yes, but otherwise, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln situations. Tough to overcome. But it can be done. Maybe he’ll be the next Bernhard Langer.

James Colgan: I was reminded watching Saturday that Zalatoris told me he’d played most of 2021 with a caved-in putter face. At the time, he was hopeful the shift would pay major dividends of his struggling play around the green. That doesn’t quite seem to be the case. I have no doubt he’ll breakthrough with a win soon, but to do so at the majors, he’s going to need a similar breakthrough with the flatstick.

There's a story I haven't heard previously....  Was he using that putter on Saturday? 

Sean Zak: There are a handful of players who strike it so well that they can still win despite their putter. Adam Scott is one, and he’s had a fabulous career. But you can’t ever help but assess his career with “woulda, coulda, shoulda.” It’s WAY too early to assign these comps to Zalatoris, but the evidence is building.

Alan Bastable: I love his confidence. He has a little Koepka in him. Earlier in the week Will Z talked about how his game is suited for the majors; on Saturday evening, he said he feels supremely comfortable in big moments. Before Saturday, he said he could not remember losing in a playoff. Now, he just needs to take the next step and win.

He's already blonde, so let's hope that's all the Koepka in him...

As the guys note, we've always had superior ball-strikers that struggled on the greens.  Justin Rose, one of those guys noted above, is very much in that class.  They're very dangerous when they have average putting weeks.  But Will Z. seems to be this stereotype on steroids...

For instance, I took thirty seconds to see if I comes up with stats for the third round, wherein Will shot 65 while missing 37 short putts.   OK, perhaps I'm exaggerating slightly, but I suspect that that round threatens the record for disaprity between Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and SG: Putting.  Of course, he didn't just miss those putts, but missed them looking like a man that's never made a putt in his life.

That said, he did look much better on Saturday in the final round, though he never looks especially comfortable on the greens.  I just don't know what to expect from him given the weakness with the flat blade.  But if you wanted to compile a list of players to short if and when arm-lock putting is banned, you might need to start with the Zeds.

The other interesting aspect of the event was the Saturday finish, about which a few notes.  For once, this problem was not the result of the Tour screwing its sponsors, but rather the extension of the NFL schedule.  The folks at Farmers apparently weren't initially sold on the Saturday finish:

“Do you really want to know?” Farmers Insurance CEO Jeff Dailey told the Union-Tribune on Friday at Torrey Pines, when asked about his initial feelings. “It was presented as a choice at first. Do you go with Wednesday through Saturday? Or do you go to NBC and keep the Thursday-Sunday format?

“My initial, ‘upset’ reaction was, let’s go to NBC. Then cooler heads prevailed.”

 Wednesday is typically the most important day of the week for the sponsors, as per this:

The shortened runway made a costly casualty of the pro-am, a “net $1 million hit” for the Century Club of San Diego, according to tournament director and CEO Marty Gorsich. It scrambled TV coverage. It sliced and diced everything from travel and lodging dates to hospitality and attendance rhythms.

The TC panel had some muddled thoughts on the schedule:

4. In an unorthodox scheduling move, the Farmers began on Wednesday and ended Saturday so it wouldn’t have to compete with the NFL’s conference championship games. Would you like to see more alternative tournament scheduling like this? Are there even better ways to schedule Tour events?

Bamberger: The Sunday finish, at this point, is tried-and-true. I don’t see the value in changing it, although a Saturday finish did work well for Ken Venturi–in 1964.

Sens: This past weekend made good sense, given the Sunday competition. But reworking the schedule any further strikes me as a solution looking for a problem. Other possible tweaks? Make them play a 36-hole final, toughing it out throwback-style.

Colgan: I’ve never understood the PGA Tour’s obsession with allowing the NFL to cannibalize its ratings in the fall and winter months. I’ll be interested to see where the ratings land from Saturday’s final round, but for now, it sure seems like a smart experiment.

Zak: If the Tour sees value in this move, then do it throughout the entirety of football season. What you cannot have is half the fall series events ending on Sunday and the other half ending on Saturday. Golf fans in particular enjoy the predictability of flipping to NBC or CBS on Sunday afternoons knowing they’ll see important golf. They don’t want to hear that they may have missed it because the schedule is all over the place. If I had my hands on the puppet strings, The first 15 legit events of the season would end on a Saturday. Then after the Super Bowl, golf takes back Sundays, with apologies to college basketball of course.

Bastable: Love the Saturday finish against the NFL machine. Makes too much sense. First-round action on Wednesday was also a treat, though a bit of mind-bender. My internal clock was a mess this week. One suggestion, though: start the fourth round earlier! The Farmers was lucky to avoid a Monday finish, and having List and Will Z. play for such high stakes in near-darkness was nutty. List couldn’t see the result of his heroic wedge shot in the playoff, and Zalatoris said he couldn’t read his putt to tie. That’s no way to decide a Tour event.

See what I mean about muddled?

Mikey Bams cites the tried and true nature of the Sunday finish, then cites an event from 1964 when Saturday was the tried-and-true finish day.

Sean Zak on the other hand makes an impassioned case for golf fans knowing that their faves will be on CBS and NBC, when in fact those Fall events are all on Golf Channel.

Take a deep breath guys and remember a couple of things.  First, there's NFL football but then there's NFL Playoff football, two very different environments.  Second, this is a time of year when the PGA Tour has always played and should always play, as opposed to the Fall, where the issue is as much the marginal nature of the events as it is the NFL's dominance.

But also take a moment to enjoy the PGA Tour's profound incompetence.  Looking for an early season weekend without the NFL in your way?  You've got one coming this week, and look at how the PGA Tour will celebrate... by sending all their best players to Saudi Arabia....  Well played, Jay!

I'm also shocked that no one has mentioned the little event that can.... the Wasted.  They traditionally go up against the mother-of-all NFL games, and they seem to get a fair amount of coverage, attendance and viewers.  

I think this makes all the sense in the world, though of course it's up to the sponsor to juggle their priorities of Pro-Am vs. TV ratings.  I don't actually think it makes sense to abandon all Sundays, as Sean has already forgotten last week's schedule wherein the NFL dominated Saturday as well as Sunday.  This is a selective option for an individual event, though it probably only works on those weeks when the venues are in close proximity.

Yes, as Alan Bastable notes, they cut it way too close and barely got one extra hole in, though the untold story there is that they pretty much do that all the time early in the year.  Should they have started 30 minutes earlier?  Yes.  Will they?  No.

Scenes From the Desert - When last we saw Rory McIlroy, he was rending garments out of frustration.  Remember?

Then last week I saw this header and was going to use it for some C-level snark:

The approach Will Zalatoris and Rory McIlroy use to ‘neutralize’ their swing

I was going to make the terribly clever point that Rory seems to have "neutralized" his entire game, not just his swing.   

So, what's new with Rors?  Yeah, same-old, same-old:

It would be an exaggeration to say this sort of thing is becoming something of a habit. And unfair to castigate too strongly a man who has four major titles to his name, as well as 28 other victoriesaround the world. Yes, he is held to a higher standard than almost any other golfer because of the almost peerless natural talent that has entertained fans over the last decade and more. But really, come on. Rory McIlroy should be winning even more often than he does.

He certainly should have won this Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic for a third time to tie the record of Ernie Els. Or, at least, he should have been part of the playoff in which Viktor Hovland would defeat Richard Bland at the first extra hole. Needing a birdie to win the whole thing and 267 yards from the flag on the 564-yard par 5 at Emirates G.C., McIlroy hit what can only be described as an awful shot. When long and left was the “miss” that would almost certainly have bequeathed at worst a putt to win, the Northern Irishman’s 3-wood came up short and right—and wet.

In truth, it wasn’t even close. At least 15 yards separated the ball’s entry point into the pond short of the putting surface and the safety of dry land. But McIlroy already suspected as much. Long before the inevitable splash-landing, he was bending the shaft of his club behind his head and gazing skyward.

That last bit is the issue, as shockingly bad golf shots followed by hang-dog looks have become his signature move.   And while it remains technically true that he's won four majors, Valhalla was pretty much in the Mesozoic Era.  But the good news is that no garments were harmed during this latest meltdown....

This guy did finish strong:

Viktor Hovland and Richard Bland went low late on Sunday to set up a thrilling finish to the DP

World Tour’s 2022 Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic.

The 24-year-old Norwegian took the clubhouse lead at Emirates Golf Club with a birdie-eagle-birdie finish to post the number to beat at 12 under. Bland, who earned his first win on tour last year at the Betfred British Masters, finished his round with consecutive birdies to tie Hovland and force a playoff. Two-time champion Rory McIlroy missed out on the playoff after finding the water on the final hole.

Replaying the 18th hole, Hovland made birdie to claim his second DP World Tour title in addition to the 2021 BMW International Open. The former star at Oklahoma State also has three wins on the PGA Tour: the 2020 Puerto Rico Open, 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic and 2021 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Hovland also won December’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Well, we were talking about good ball strikers who struggle with their short games...

Hovland is a good player and he's won six times in roughly two years, but he will now move up to rank No. 3 in the world, which is just silly.  There's not a top tier event in that list of wins, but this is the result of awarding world ranking points for twenty-player fields.  

While We're in the Neighborhood -  Never too early to tee up this week's major:

2. As the Tour heads to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a host of American stars will tee it up at the Saudi International on the Asian Tour, which recently received a $200 million investment from Saudi-backed LIV Golf Investments, a group that also has visions of a forming a tour of its own. What’s your read on the A-list players competing in Saudi Arabia? Much ado about nothing? Or is the beginning of a bigger shakeup?

Bamberger: I don’t think the Saudi investors are looking to order off the kiddie menu here. This will get bigger and bigger and messier and messier. Maybe golf will be better for it. Right now, I can’t see it.

Sens: That’s well said, Michael. Any rival league has always needed a reach tipping point where enough big names sign on to create irreversible momentum. Seems like it’s getting there.

Colgan: It’s certainly much ado about something, but I wouldn’t rush to connect those dots just yet. It’s hard to know how much overlap the event and the rumored tour have, largely because we know nothing about the rumored tour.

Zak: It is of course the beginning of a bigger shakeup. This will be the strongest field in the history of the Saudi International and the weakest field at Pebble in more than a decade. And the PGA Tour, despite not wanting to, had to play ball a bit. The list of players was too great. All of that is some sort of momentum.

Bastable: If you’re looking for potential defectors, yes, the Saudi field would be a good place to start. Greg Norman’s league hasn’t formed as quickly as once expected, or promised, but make no mistake, it is taking shape, and Norman and Co. are lining up players. Second half of this year should be very interesting indeed.

It's just a run-of-the-mill Asian Tour event, right?

But the interest is because we really don't if they're "lining up players", do we?  But they've certainly caused a bunch of unforced errors out of Jay Monahan and his manservant Keith Pelley, and they've certainly put the hurt on a mainstay PGA Tour event.   

I'm a guy that actually listens to what these guys say, and Rory has been quite clear in his reaction to the various Premier/Super/Appearance Fee Leagues.  He's basically made two strong but separate points, the first extolling the freedom of the PGA Tour model.  His second point is equally clear but limited, to wit, he doesn't like the source of the money in the latest proposal.  Fair enough, but now he's made a really curious point, so see what you think:

3. Rory McIlroy, in discussing the Saudi International, the appearance payments that come with it, and the potential new tour, told reporters at the Dubai Desert Classic that while he couldn’t fault a player for taking guaranteed money, he said: “It’s the competitive integrity to me that’s one of the biggest issues here, right. It’s like how hard are guys going to compete when they know that they are guaranteed whatever the money is? Even when I started to get appearance fees back in 2009 or whatever, I struggled with that, going to tournaments in Korea and Japan feeling like I had already won before I teed it up and had to get over that mental battle of that as well.” What impact do you think appearance fees have on players’ drives?

Say what?  This is a really strange argument to be making, no?

Bamberger: I think it’s a real thing. You think of yourself differently, when you get your money for nothin’.

Sens: McIlroy is one the most thoughtful, forthright and admirable pros out there, but it seems like he’s thinking/talking himself into knots here. Is the guaranteed money really his biggest concern with the Saudi-backed tour? Hasn’t seemed that way up to now. Is he right that some guys will be more likely to ease up mentally? I’m sure he is. But that won’t be a deciding factor in who shows up, or whether the tour succeeds or flops.

Colgan: I always appreciate Rory’s candor, but I can’t get over how strange this take is. Do the remaining professional athletes on earth not play for some modicum of guaranteed money? Does he not make tens (if not HUNDREDS) of millions in guaranteed sponsorships each year? To borrow a line from football: You play to win the game. Nothing else matters, especially not when the money winds up in your bank account.

Zak: Appearance fees have to impact the drive to succeed. It’s human nature. Does it make them any less hungry to win once they stick a peg into the ground on Thursday? Doubt it. Does it make it far more okay when they start 76-76 than in a normal event? Undoubtedly.

Bastable: Of course Rory’s right! If a team of widget-sellers were each handed $2 million to go out and sell widgets, they might perform to the best of their best abilities, but they also might not. A more effective comp structure would be to give them a modest salary and pay them commissions on their sales. Same principle holds true for world-class golfers who are paid to make birdies.

I think it's both true and profoundly silly...  Are there guys that get fat, dumb and happy after making bank?  Probably, but it's always been thus.  The Euro Tour has always allowed for appearance fees, is Rory now questioning the competitive integrity of his home circuit?   

I take it for granted that world class athletes will maintain their competitive drive, just watch The Last Dance if you need confirmation.  Which isn't to say that certain individuals might lose their edge, just think of Anthony Kim.

The bigger issue is that, in responding to this issue, the PGA Tour is changing its relationship with the players and now allocating cash to favorites (can you say PIP?).  For every player that stays loyal to Jay because of the PIp cash, five will be pissed that they didn't get paid....  You're creating the very class of player that will jump ship.

As if Rory wasn't sufficiently silly, we have further silly comments from an old reliable source, a titan of this genre:

“Why try to fix something that isn’t broken?” is Colin Montgomerie’s message in its simplest form amid the ongoing threat of the Saudi-backed Super Golf League.

The Scotsman is back in DP World Tour action this week as he tees it up at the Dubai Desert Classic, an event he won back in 1996. They were simpler times for golf. Now, more than 25 years on, ‘Monty’ admits the game as he knew it in his heyday has been corrupted.

"It's a shame it's come to this,” Montgomerie told BBC Sport. “We used to work well with the Asian Tour and now we are at loggerheads because of money. It's a problematic issue. It's that horrible, evil word, money. The mighty dollar ruling people's hearts and minds.

“We never played the game for money on the European Tour when I first started out. I was trying to see how much better I could get as a golfer. Now it's all about that evil word, money. Let's hope the European Tour is closer to the PGA Tour than we've ever been before and we can fight it off."

Fair play, Monty.  Though that Euro Tour that you cite might not have been broken, but it certainly was broke.  That's might be why it's now called the DP World Tour....

But what do we think of Monty's contention that they never played for money back in the day?  It's best to remember two simple rules.  First, when they tell you it's about the money, it's about the money.  Second, when they tell you it's not about the money, then it's most certainly all about the money.

But here's my thought.  If Henrik Stenson and Phil are the most likely to jump at the Super League's riches, why not Monty?  

Let's finish with a man who you knew would be all over this week's festivities, the acerbic Eamon Lynch:

Lynch: The Saudis aren't paying players for silence. We must listen for the lies.

“Obvious lies serve a purpose for an administration,” wrote Garry Kasparov, the chess great and courageous critic of Vladimir Putin. “They watch who challenges them and who loyally repeats

them. The people must watch, too.”

We are entering a week in which golf fans will be inundated with obvious lies from the Saudi International, peddled by players exhibiting all the sincerity of $20 hustlers trying to say it like they mean it.

“I’m trying to grow the game.”

“They are trying to change here.”

“I’m just here to play golf.”

“I want to compete against the best.”

“I’m not a politician.”

I can play this game as well as Eamon:

I'll respect you in the morning.

Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.

 I'll bet you have your own as well...

I don't actually completely agree with him, but he is good at the ranting:

Most PGA Tour members who sought permission to compete in Saudi Arabia will earn a number by making up the numbers. Jason Dufner, Harold Varner III and Jhonny Vegas will be sent home with a check and a cursory nod of thanks, whereas stars like Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau will be aggressively courted as potential assets in a breakaway Super League. Regardless of the level of interest each man holds for the Saudis, being present is an opportunity to be accounted for. Lewis Hamilton spoke out against regime abuses during the penultimate race of the Formula One season in Jeddah last December. Who will be Hamilton this week?

Bueller? …. Bueller? …

This week begs for moral clarity, not obfuscation and obsequiousness. Greg Norman will supply plenty of the latter as a propagandist for the Crown Prince’s regime. Slender are the chances of a principled protest from any golfer who has chosen to show up for the money. A gloomy few days lie ahead for golf.

Say it ain't so, Duff!

I don't love this game at all.  Eamon makes a strong case that the Saudis are noxious, but that's about as useful as telling me that the sun will rise in the East.  But the problem is, was Eamon making the same case when this was an event-in-good-standing on the aforementioned Euro Tour?   

I'm just not a fan of making our athletes fight our geopolitical battles.  Are the Saudis any more noxious than the Chinese (needless to say, I'm talking governments, not people)?  Yet it's OK to hold the Genocide Games™ in China beginning later this week?  How does Eamon feel about those guys?

So, let's review the rules according to Eamon.  It's Ok for Keith Pelley to be business partners with the bonecutters, but it's not OK for Duf to collect an appearance fee.  Got it.

Glad to have that out of my system, and now I'll need to get on with my day.  See you later in the week, although my schedule is completely up in the air due to the absence of snow.