Tuesday Tidbits

Just a wee bit of low impact blogging, since I'll be on the course tomorrow morning.

A Rose By Any Other Name - Shame on your humble blogger for the absence of a heads up on the Women's NCAA Championships, the stroke play portion of which concluded yesterday on Golf Channel.  Now, you're likely golfed-out after the PGA, though the NCAA's nubile young wenches, carry bags and pushcarts and opponents tending the pin for each other is actually quite the pleasant palate cleanser.

The last day of medal play features the conclusion of the individual championship, as well as the teams jockeying for position in the team match play field.  First, that indy:

Rose Zhang is going to need a separate dorm room at Stanford for all her trophies.

The freshman phenom and No. 1 player in the nation proved worthy of her ranking by claiming medalist honors at the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship by three shots at 6 under at Grayhawk Golf Club on Monday.

“To be a national champion in my first NCAA (Championship), I just can’t explain it,” said Zhang. It’s hard to describe in words, I feel like it hasn’t really settled in yet. I didn’t really know this date would come.”

Zhang struggled by her lofty standards, signing for a final-round 75 to finish as the second consecutive Cardinal to win the title following her teammate Rachel Heck’s win in 2021. Heck and Zhang are the only two Stanford women to win the individual national championship, and each did so as freshmen.

Zhang is the best player in women's amateur golf, though yesterday's struggles were interesting to watch.  The bride and I caught her at the U.S. Amateur last summer at Westchester Country Club, including a moment when she was amusingly and/or condescendingly dismissive of input from her caddie, who was also her father.  

This graph, more accurately one sentence within, made your humble blogger laugh:

“She’s amazing. She’s one of my closest friends and I feel like we share so much in common,” said Zhang of her teammate, Heck. “I’m rooming with her this week and last night even when I was in the same position as her as the previous year, she told me if there’s anything you kind of want to share, or any nerves that you want to talk about, I’m here because she went through it. Just being able to have that connection with her, I feel like it’s just so, so special. I am so inspired by her.”

But who's on second?  Tell me "Heck, I'm rooming with, checking notes, Heck" doesn't have an Abbott and Costello feel to it....

But maybe the bigger question is, heck, what's become of Rachel, whose score wasn't counted yesterday.  Will she be in their match-play lineup?  As it so happens, she'll bat leadoff:

No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 8 Georgia

Rachel Heck vs. Jenny Bae (10:10 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

Sadie Englemann vs. Caterina Don (10:20 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

Rose Zhang vs. Candice Mahe (10:30 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

Aline Krauter vs. LoraLie Cowart (10:40 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

Brooke Seay vs. Jo Hua Hung (10:50 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

Don't know what you might have on your calendar, but the team match play portion typically rocks.  The most intriguing match-up appears to be this one, though you'll not be familiar with the names:

No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 7 San Jose State

Ching-Tzu Chen vs. Antonia Malate (9:20 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

Briana Chacon vs. Lucia Lopez-Ortega (9:30 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

Tze-Han Lin vs. Kajsa Arwefjall (9:40 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

Hsin-Yu Lu vs. Louisa Carlbom (9:50 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen vs. Natasha Andrea Oon (10 a.m. ET, 1st tee)

San Jose State has never previously made it to match play, but they knocked off loaded Stanford twice during the Spring season, and falling to third late in the proceedings might have been a good move for Texas A&M.

 Coverage begins at noon, and it's good fun.

PGA Championship Leftovers - "Dis and 'dat, beginning with Geoff's signature Winners and Losers post.  We'll stay characteristically upbeat and focus on winners, if only because the losers are buried behind his paywall.

Champions

Justin Thomas. He becomes the sixth player since WW II with two majors and 15 PGA Tour before hitting 30, joining Nicklaus, Miller, Watson, Woods and McIlroy. So pencil in a 2038 World Golf Hall of Fame induction. The win comes after grinding all year on PGA Tour practice greens surrounded by as many as eight eyeballs. Dad’s body language sometimes seemed to say, go play with the beautiful stroke you have. But the fussing finally paid off at Southern Hills. Thomas gained six strokes with his mastery of Maxwell’s greens. Other than Saturday’s 32 putts on 11 greens hit, putting made the difference:

Raising the question of whether he benefitted from the uncharacteristically slower greens, or just found something (or, yanno, sample size).

Will Zalatoris. Ranking tenth in SG putting translates to an astounding putting week for a strong often compared to something you’d see on the Champions Tour. While he wasn’t as great over the weekend, Zalatoris dropped huge putts at 17 and 18 to get in the playoff. “Those are putts that you keep in the memory bank for the future,” he said after doing nothing wrong in the 3-hole playoff. Wild start to his major career: MC, T6, 2nd, T8, MC, WD, T6, 2nd.

Though he has to feel that he let this one get away, no?

Geoff, any final thoughts on that Miko dude?

Mito Pereira. A dynamite week for 71 holes despite a rough driving day Sunday. The Chilean also enjoyed above average putting week, finishing SG 3rd vs. SG 100th on the Tour season. He handled the final hole double bogey with such class that his agent undoubtedly had a busy Monday. And we’ve added another to confirm the Latin American upsurge in world class talent.

I'd like to think that his grace in the face of profound disappointment and embarrassment will be rewarded, but I'd also like to think that there's still time for me to play shortstop for the Yankees...

And red meat for architectural geeks, though what I really like is the wind graphic:

Southern Hills. Like a vintage wine decanted to expand long dormant flavors, this American classic is no longer buried in trees and rough. The sommelier’s at Hanse Design gave Perry Maxwell’s understated test a bright and airy vibe. Superintendent Russ Myers and his army of over 100 served up perfect conditions despite Mother Nature unfurling a few screwballs. Players hit more drivers than at past majors at Southern Hills. Distance off the tee proved to be just one necessary strength. Every skill was tested. And as with Kiawah last year, the Golf Gods offered different wind directions to make each day a new battle. No wonder the leaderboard included what little variety is left in playing styles: ballstrikers, short game wizards and a winner who grinds just to have a deep arsenal of shots for weeks like this.

Perry Maxwell. Not a household name beyond architecture circles, his vaunted rolls wreaked the expected havoc. But unlike the sharp and sometimes silly crowns at Pinehurst, Southern Hills demonstrated how subtle slopes maintained at a low height are more than enough to make things interesting. The pre-tournament hype about the importance of short game recoveries played out: the week’s scrambling rate ended up at 51.35%, down from the PGA Tour season average of 59.44%. Thomas was 14 of 23 around the greens.

And some last bits he liked:

May. That open 2030 date vacated by Southern Hills must look appealing for a return trip. Coupled with Kiawah last year, they have two reliably stellar May venues.

CBS. A lighter commercial load and shorter breaks only led to one or two unfortunate departures from key Sunday action. The production was terrific, especially at the end when it matters most. (More tomorrow in the Media Wrap.)

I agree that the lighter commercial load was apparent, though it inevitably leads to more Faldo, so we can call that one a halve.

I did sample the Joe Buck second screen experience, which didn't do much for this observer.  I had been reliably informed that they would be focusing on the golf, though perhaps they didn't get the memo.

Nick Piastowski does the notebook dump thing, with the usual mélange of hits and misses.  I'll admit that this one induced a wry smile:

2. Let’s stay with Tiger for a bit. One of the funniest things I read came from TJ Eckert, the sports director of the Tulsa ABC affiliate. As Woods warmed up on the range on Tuesday, he dinked a 6-iron about 80 yards. Why? To Woods’ left was a large screen tracking his distances, and 80 isn’t 200. Eckert said Woods and LaCava laughed afterward.

We sometimes forget that the scrutiny can be a bit all-encompassing.  Were I struggling to find it on the range, I wouldn't love the ball speed and carry distance numbers being broadcast to the world.

I agree these are a mixed blessing:

3. I like the super groups, of which Woods was a part of one during rounds one and two, with fellow stars Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. And I don’t. They’re good for TV and hype. But it looked impossible to get a consistent view on the grounds. Of course, that did open up viewing of nearly everyone else.

Good for TV but kinda hell for on-site spectators.  But my mind works in funny ways, because is super-groups are hell on spectators, what does that make shotgun starts?  Asking for a friend

Yeah, we noticed:

11. On to Justin Thomas, your winner. It’s here where we’ll note that not one of our staffers picked him to win ahead of time. Let’s move on.

12. How could we not have? Every gambler says this, I know. But Southern Hills was asking creativity out of its champion more than anything. And JT, more than anyone, likes to paint outside of the lines. The 67 he shot on Friday, with the Oklahoma winds blowing his morning wave up, won him the tournament.

He hadn't played very well in some time, but he truly won it on Thursday-Friday, which isn't something we see all that often.  

So Nick on golf is moderately interesting, but this is the best of Nick's notebook:

16. Music break! CBS had tunes during their coverage, and I want to too. My mix will be better, though. A sound that was born in the area is called Red Dirt, and an author of its history is my friend Josh. (You can buy his book here!) He calls the sound “folk music with a hint of swampy blues.” I also asked him for a few of his favorite songs, and here’s one.

Perhaps a bit too country for your humble blogger's palate, but love the effort.  He's got more at the link, so by all means sample it.

Nick finishes with some thoughts on golf's prodigal son:

46. Some Phil Mickelson thoughts. At the start of the week, everyone was asked about the embattled, nowhere-to-be found star. By Saturday, he was brought up once, for about two minutes, toward the start of CBS’ first broadcast of the tournament, and then he wasn’t talked about again. Which I kind of think the week would have gone had he played. It’s wrong what he said. But, for better or worse, most people move on.

47. When does he play next? I wrote about that question here. I still think there’s a chance he never does. It may just come down to when he thinks his game is right. He’s not going to come back, answer the questions — and go home after two rounds.

Never?   That's certainly a minority opinion, as is the thought that his sabbatical is related to the state of is game.  But is there anyone that thinks he doesn't intend to be in London?  

48. Regardless, Mary Mickelson, Phil’s mom, says her boy is doing fine, according to USA Today.

Lots going on with her boy, though I'd prefer that we keep everyone's Mom out of it.

This hits on a point I neglected to make on Monday: 

49. Mickelson’s former caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, carrying the bag of this year’s champion was … a thing.

My thought on Sunday was that this was a worst case scenario for Phil.  Not only did his estranged caddie get a "w", but he did so looping for Tiger's a******e buddy.  That had to sting, right?

So, that Phil-Bones break-up?  We previously covered the fact that bookies weren't the only parties stiffed by Phil, that Bones actually fired him for non-payment.  I'm mostly through the Shipnuck biography, and this was more of an issue than you'd have thought:

As detailed in the new book, “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and unauthorized) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar,” Mickelson had a tradition where he gave his winning flag from 18 to

his grandfather, a former Pebble Beach caddie, who hung them on his kitchen wall. Mickelson’s first major flag from the 2004 Masters went there, four months after his death.

“Mackay understood and respected that gesture, but 19 more Tour victories would follow, including four majors and he never got to keep a single flag,” Shipnuck wrote.

“That’s a giant f— you to a caddie,” Shipnuck quotes someone very close to Mackay. “When Phil wins the Masters, he gets the green jacket, the trophy, the big check, all the glory. He had to take the flags, too?… For Phil not to follow the tradition was hugely disrespectful.”

During the week of the WM Phoenix Open, Bones hosted a dinner party for players and caddies at his home and without fail he would be asked, “Where are the flags?”

Phil did send him some selected flags after his grandfather's death, specifically the 2006 and 2010 Masters flags if I'm remembering correctly, but TLTL it seems.  Especially since they came with a typically Phil FU:

Shortly after their break-up in the summer of 2017, Mickelson overnighted to Bones the major flags they had won together.

“But Phil autographed them in comically large letters, which Mackay felt disfigured the keepsakes,” Shipnuck reported and noted that Bones never displayed them in his home.

Bones didn’t participate in Shipnuck’s book, and when asked to confirm these details from Shipnuck’s book this week, he declined. But he also didn’t refute them.

Because there's no reason to be respectful of a guy that helped you wind forty events.

We've got that Billy Walters tell-all coming, but don't you think Bones will write one as well?

Say It Ain't So, Jack - Last week Jack dropped news from nowhere that Greg Norman only got the LIV gig after he, an actual living legend, had spurned their offer of in excess of $100 million.  perhaps spurned isn't exactly the right word, as it turns out that Nicklaus is suing, well, Nicklaus:

On May 13, a complaint filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the 82-year-

old golf legend alleged a breach of contract with the Nicklaus Companies as well as tortious interference and breach of fiduciary duty.

The complaint was filed by Nicklaus Companies. Its executive chairman is Howard Milstein, a New York businessman, chairman, president and CEO of New York Private Bank & Trust. The lawsuit is Nicklaus Companies, LLC v. GBI Investors Inc. and Jack W. Nicklaus. Nicklaus is the principal of GBI Investors Inc., an architectural services firm.

Jack Nicklaus II is vice Chairman of the Nicklaus Companies, according to their web site.

According to the complaint, Nicklaus was paid $145 million in 2007 to provide exclusive services and property to the Nicklaus Companies, which over time he has failed to live up to or has worked against the company directly.

Here's the juicy bits:

The complaint alleges three specific instances of Nicklaus’ breach including receiving a substantial cash payment for promoting the 2022 Soudal Open, a recently played DP World Tour event in Belgium, wrongful conduct involving a video game being developed with the Masters and PGA Tour, and wrongful conduct regarding negotiations with the PIF Saudi Investment Fund where Nicklaus was reportedly offered $100 million to join the startup LIV Golf Invitational Series.

"Fortunately for Nicklaus Companies — and Mr. Nicklaus — the Company was eventually able to convince Mr. Nicklaus to stop exploring a deal for the endorsement of the Saudi-backed league," reads a portion of the suit. "The Company essentially saved Mr. Nicklaus from himself by extricating him from a controversial project that could have not only tarnished his legacy and reputation, but severely damaged the Nicklaus Companies’ name, brands and business.

"Thanks to the intervention of Nicklaus Companies, the Company was able to minimize fallout from the situation and protect the goodwill and good name of both the Company and Mr. Nicklaus. The potential irreparable harm that Nicklaus Companies faced had Mr. Nicklaus’s unauthorized activities not been abandoned has been highlighted by the continued statements made by the PGA Tour and various leading Tour players and the substantial negative news coverage criticizing Phil Mickelson’s involvement as a paid endorser of the Saudi-backed golf league. If not for the efforts of Nicklaus Companies, Mr. Nicklaus could have been pilloried in the news media for accepting payment for what could be characterized as betraying the PGA Tour."

Which basically means that they're taking credit for saving Jack from being Phil.... Or Greg.

Nicklaus has issued a denial and Howard Milstein's ownership of the Nicklaus operations and Golf Magazine has had its own controversies, so stay tuned.  Here's Geoff's conclusion:

Was Nicklaus trying to get his side out before the suit hit? Or is Milstein just trying to distance himself from the Saudi’s after his operation flirted with the Kingdom for a little apparent sponcon?

No idea, though I have noted some surprisingly favorable coverage of the Saudi efforts at golf.com, so we'll see how this plays out.

On Majors - As we've noted previously, Mike Bamberger has taken his gravitas the The Fire Pit Collective, a great loss for the aforementioned Golf Magazine.

This is as good a time to note changes at the major golf websites, each (and here I mean Golf Magazine and Golf Digest) of which has in the last few days convete4d to a hybrid model, whereby part of their content is behind a paywall.  This is obviously bad news for my style of blogging, though it's logically worse news for them.  The free model presumably is not driving sufficient ad revenue, but color me skeptical that Joe Sixpack is going to pop to be a Golf Magazine Insider or to subscribe to Golf Digest+.  Smells like CNN+ to this observer, whereby unable to get even 1 million people to watch their nonsense for free, they convinced themselves that within a few years 15 million souls would subscribe.  How'd that work out for them?

Mike is up with a strange item, extremely interesting but through an equally odd filter.  Se eif you agree, as it begins with the header:

PGA Championship 2022: Rory McIlroy and the PGA Tour have a major problem

It's understandable if you're unclear as to where he's heading with this, though we give Mike as much latitude as any writers.  

Rory McIlroy is a two-time winner of the tournament that wrapped up here on Sunday night. You know, the PGA Championship. One of the four Grand Slam events. He’s one of the most beloved

players in the game and maybe its most insightful talker. He played one of the best rounds of the day on Sunday at Southern Hills. He made four straight birdies on the front nine and shot 68, 2 under.

And he was pissed.

That’s understandable. If he had played the back like he played the front (a huge if), he would have won the tournament. After running off those four straight birdies, he didn’t have another over the last 13 holes. You’d be shocked if he wasn’t pissed.

It’s what he did after signing his card that gives you some pause: He blew off all requests for interviews, TV and otherwise.

Bear with me for some long excerpts, but nobody rushes Mike:

For starters, it’s immature for a player of his stature. He can do as he pleases, of course, and McIlroy almost always does talk, certainly in good times but very often in bad too. But on Sunday, at a major that you’ve won twice, where you can give insight into where you are with your game and what the players still playing will face? As the Nike marketing department has been saying for years, Just do it.

You can say that Nike made McIlroy rich, but really you made him rich. He has the talent, but you provide the purses and the endorsement deals and all the rest. The money spigot begins with your credit card.

But there’s something else that gives you much more pause, and this is it: When did not winning a major become such a big deal, and is it healthy?

In 1997.

And no.

Huh?  Is he going where I think he's going?

Things are out of whack in professional men’s golf, and they have been for a while. Ever since Tiger Woods came on the scene a quarter-century ago, the elite player’s mindset can be captured in two mantras:

Majors, the majors, the majors;

Gotta win ’em, gotta win ’em, gotta win ’em.

And this is bad, why?  better to obsess over Hartford or Mayakoba?

We all know the names of the various prodigies who came up in Tiger’s wake, McIlroy (33, four majors) and Jon Rahm (27, one major) and Will Zalatoris (25, no majors) among them. By all available evidence, their notion of what constitutes a rich and full golfing life seems to come right out of the Tiger playbook. Woods would tell you he took a page from Jack Nicklaus. Tiger caught the tail end of Big Jack. The first tournament he watched on TV was Nicklaus winning the last of his 18 majors, the 1986 Masters. Rory was born three years later. So Jack didn’t beget Rory and Co. Tiger did.

Rory, engagingly, talks about his reading life now and again. For all we know, he’s reading the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, who teaches that happiness does not come when you are seeking it. Maybe you have found this in your own life: It sneaks up on you when you least expect it.

All this emphasis on the majors—and I am as guilty as anyone who watches from the wrong side of the rope line—has created a lot of emotional upheaval.

This is easy for me to say, but by putting so much emphasis on four weeks a year, the golfer’s life, at least his professional life, is out of balance. How much would any of us like to play 25 times a year, cash checks anytime we play half decently, contend now and again and win on some of those occasions?

Mike, I love you, but what is your point?  You seem to want to say that the majors are too important, but you also seem to want to avoid the implications of that opinion.  And one of those implications is that you're carrying water for Jay Monahan, and we know with mathematical certainty that he thinks the majors are too important, for the simple reason that they're not his.

But, having inched up to that controversial but interesting bit, he then reverts to this for his conclusions:

Part of the problem, of course, is Rory knows the drill: Since winning his fourth major at the 2014 PGA Championship, McIlroy has played 28 majors without getting his fifth. He has had top-10 finishes in 15 of those events. That’s a nice problem to have, right? But the Sunday night questions, some of them, would have been some form of what’s wrong. And Rory doesn’t want to talk about what’s wrong. And he doesn’t know the answer anyhow. So off he goes.

This is a vicious cycle. I certainly don’t have the answer. Jiddu Krishnamurti might have the answer. McIlroy is most likely searching for the answer.

One thing we can all see is this: As he has become stronger and stronger through the years, he has started swinging harder and harder. His shots are more erratic. His scores are more erratic. Still, he has won 11 times since that PGA victory eight years ago. Guys win majors at almost the exact same ratio they win non-majors. It’s all golf. Rory plays golf for a living. It’s all good. He knows it. Like any of us, he must just need a reminder, now and again.

By the way, his eighth-place finish here paid $436,000. A nice life, if you can get it.

I just don't know what to make of this mess.  Yeah, Rory has bulked up, but Mike seems to miss that the weakness that plague him are the shorter shots, the lack of distance control on his wedges and his dreadful putting (at least part of which I believe is caused by his inability to read greens).

But if the majors are too important, mike, you seem curiously unwilling to argue that point.  And if the majors aren't a high point of the golf calendar, that kind of leaves us with the PGA Tour's mind-numbing week-to-week sameness.  That's not an attractive vision for the game, is it?

On that curious note I shall wrap.  Not exactly sure when I'll blog next as it's a busy week for your humble blogger.  Don't be mad if I don't blog any more this week, but do yourself a favor and catch the girls.