To leave someone “to their own devices” is a fairly recent idiom, dating to the late 19th century (“What would you do, if left to your own devices?” 1870), and the original sense of “devices” in the phrase was simply “wishes” or “preferences.” But over time “device” in the phrase has drifted in the direction of the sense of “scheme, plan, plot or trick,” and today the implication of “to leave someone to their own devices” is that, if given the chance, the person will probably do something at least mildly sneaky.
1870 is "fairly recently"? Seems at least a lifetime ago to this observer....
Tour Doings - It's not your Grandfather's PGA Tour for sure, much to our regret. I think we should wait until all the mail-in ballots are scanned, but it seems the fix was in:
Eight weeks remain in 2022, which theoretically means the race for the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program is still open. But according to forecasters—specifically, Rory McIlroy—the race has already been called.Speaking to Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press, McIlroy relayed that Woods has repeated as PIP champ.“Hey, I gave him a pretty good run,” McIlroy told the AP.
So, Tiger isn't just the GOAT, he's also the PIP....
Little doubt that Tiger was a significant player this season, though perhaps "player" could be misinterpreted. For instance, which of these strikes you as the more significant?
Woods played just nine rounds in 2022, although his return at the Masters and possible goodbye to St. Andrews at the Open were among the stories of the year. Woods was also instrumental in leading a group of players that enacted sweeping reforms to the tour in response to the ongoing threat from LIV Golf.
This Golf.com item has the better spin on the cognitive dissonance:
It should be noted that Tiger’s victory will give him two more PIP titles (2) than PGA Tour starts (0) since the beginning of 2021 — a point that underscores the strange nature of the PIP, a bonus pool conceived primarily as a popularity contest and birthed by the growing threat of LIV Golf. McIlroy reportedly finished second in the tally, collecting some $12 million amid a season that has seen him reascend to the No. 1 World Ranking and become one of the sport’s most important figureheads.
Because they're co-sanctioned, those majors do technically count as PGA Tour starts, but the point is relevant....
But here's what's a little strange, as this was the header:
What Tiger Woods’ latest PIP payday is really worth
We're told that Rory got $12 million, and this was to be found higher up in the piece:
On Tuesday, a report from the Associated Press‘s Doug Ferguson named Tiger the winner of the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program for the second consecutive year, edging out Rory McIlroy to win the PGA Tour’s controversial new bonus pool. As winner, Woods will take home a plurality of the PIP’s $100 million fund, which will reportedly be split between some 23 players.
My eyes, like everything else, aren't what they used to be, but none of those three (including the linked Doug Ferguson item), but no one seems to have what that header promised, the number for Tiger.
Of course, that original 2021 installment worked just as contemplated, right?
The PIP bonus pool was instituted in 2021 to reward players who boosted engagement and publicity for the tour. Ostensibly a response to some of the lucrative deals rumored to be coming from the then-Premier Golf League, the inaugural program somewhat backfired; five of the 10 winners in 2021—Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bubba Watson—ultimately left the tour for LIV Golf. However, improvements to the PIP were announced at this year’s Tour Championship to broaden its scope.
I've had my quibbles with Tiger over the years, but at least the man stays bought. Or has up until now....
Some of those five think they've been treated badly:
Bryson DeChambeau and Bubba Watson say they haven’t received the second half of their PlayerImpact Program bonus money from the PGA Tour, and the two LIV Golf defectors aren’t happy about it. DeChambeau, for one, called it “childish.”In an interview Thursday ahead of the LIV Golf Team Championship at Trump Doral in Miami, DeChambeau told ESPN he decided to stay as a plaintiff in LIV Golf’s federal antitrust lawsuit against the Tour because he hasn’t been paid $1.75 million of his $3.5 million in bonus money from finishing fifth in the PIP standings in 2021.“It’s not about the money; it’s about the principle,” DeChambeau said. “It’s the way you deal with situations.”
Oh, it's how you deal with situations. So, when you threw a hissy fit in Detroit, refusing to speak with the media at your sponsor's (Rocket Mortgage) event, that's what you mean by how you deal with a situation. Because you were having a sad....
But care for a primer on the entitled mind? Really, it's a master class:
According to the interview with ESPN, DeChambeau claims he received the first payment in February. But there were two requirements for receiving the second payment: Compete in a Tour event he hadn’t played in during the previous four seasons (designed to help field strength at an event that had lacked the individual’s star power) and make an appearance at a charity event.DeChambeau, who won eight times on Tour including the 2020 U.S. Open, played in the Valero Texas Open to fulfill the first requirement. He told ESPN he tried to check off the second box by participating at a charity event for First Tee in Dallas next month. DeChambeau said he was told by the Tour the appearance wouldn’t fulfill the requirement because he is no longer a Tour member “in good standing.”“They said because you’re not in good standing, we’re not allowing you to do something to help out junior golf and junior golfers,” DeChambeau said. “To me, that’s childish. It just shows where they stand emotionally. I respect and understand it, but when you’ve completed something and provided entertainment for them last year, that’s the reason I’m in the lawsuit.”
Hmmm, did the Tour really not allow him to help the kids? Yeah, hard to see that in this fact pattern. What seems apparent is that Bryson had no interest in that appearance unless the cash register went ka-ching! Noted, Bryson, but without the slightest sense of surprise.
One would assume that, given that PIP was created last year in reaction to the LIV threat, that it also had a requirement that the player remain a member in good standing to receive that second installment. If not, it's malpractice on the part of Jay's staff. But, trust me Bryson, you haven't been entertaining....well, checking notes, ever.
The Tour is also making some other small-ball moves. This one seems on point, but likely insufficient, at least for the Jon Rahms of the world:
Top players have been granted some flexibility in the PGA Tour’s plan to mandate participation in elevated events next year, according to a directive sent to tour members last week. TheAssociated Press was first to report the news.The tour announced in August that players would be eligible for their portion of the $100-million bonus in the Player Impact Program only if they competed in the 13 elevated events plus three more of their choosing in the 2023 portion of the current schedule.But the directive, a portion of which was read to Golf Digest, stated that the PGA Tour Policy Board has voted to allow players to skip one elevated event “for personal or professional reasons only.” Furthermore, the board determined that a fall event could count as one of the three optional starts.
That last bit is just perfect, given that Jay has provided no details on what is to become of the Fall. So, gentlemen, make your schedules, but don't be asking any hard questions.
And this as a sop to those Euros:
Still to be determined—and it’s not clear if it will be discussed at the upcoming board meeting on Nov. 14 in Sea Island, Ga.—is whether players who hold membership on the DP World Tour would be allowed to designate an event on the European circuit as one of their three electives. The PGA Tour and DP World Tour forged a strategic alliance in 2020 and strengthened their merger last June with the onset of the rival LIV Golf series.
A reminder that the Scottish Open, co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, is not one of those elevated events.
How would this work is Tiger were just a little healthier and wanted to play a limited, Jack-like schedule? Or, probably, the schedule he actually played before the auto accident. he was pushing for this, though, apparently quite certain he'd never have to play that much golf.
Color me skeptical that they're accomplishing much here. All they had to do was jack the purses and the guys would show, without the strong-arm tactics. Those tactics probably appease those that are putting up the scratch for the enhanced purses, but there's a whole bunch of other sponsors that have just been sent to sit at the children's table. I'm sure they're like it there...
The final bit here is in an area that we've explored frequently over the years, how the PGA Tour's policies have negatively affected the amateur game, most notably the U.S. Amateur. The most significant step here was the abolition of Big Tour Q-School, which consigned most of the top amateurs to a year of indentured servitude on the Corn Fairy Tour. Now comes word that they'd like to hedge their bets, after seeing a couple of college kids jump directly to LIV:
In an update that was sent to its membership this week, the PGA Tour said that it is considering two proposals for providing better access for college players transitioning to the pro ranksbeginning after the 2022-23 D-I season. The ideas were first discussed during a Players Advisory Council meeting in early October at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas. Both proposals seemingly have a strong chance for approval at the PAC meeting scheduled for Nov. 14 during the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Ga.In the first scenario, the No. 1 player in the final PGA Tour University Ranking, which identifies the top seniors in each class, would be eligible, following the NCAA Championship in June, to receive membership on the PGA Tour. He would be placed at the end of the Korn Ferry Tour category and be subject to reshuffle. The memo said the “benefits would commence this season with the class of 2023 with access for 2024 and beyond to be evaluated with the PAC and Player Directors.”In the second proposal, which seeks to “ensure that a unique talent has an accelerated pathway to the PGA Tour,” top underclassmen could advance by achieving key benchmarks in the college, amateur and professional ranks. Points would be accumulated based on top collegiate awards, amateur wins, career-best World Amateur Golf Rankings position, and performance in PGA Tour events, including majors.
But, lest you think this is a serious undertaking, there was this:
To provide context in its memo, the tour said that, since 2010, three underclassmen would have qualified via the second pathway. The tour did not identify the three golfers.
Eugenio Chacarra? Just a wild guess....
They've given the Euro Tour ten PGA Tour cards to keep them from taking Saudi money, but in this instance they're simply not serious.
Predictions Are Hard... - You know the rest but, in his Monday Finish column, Dylan Dethier takes us through the rumor mill, especially important for those upset about the recent Cantlay-Schauffele rumors:
But there are several aspects to reporting on LIV defections that make it tricky business. For one thing, players and businesspeople connected to LIV are heavily incentivized to make it seem like top players are close to joining when, in fact, they aren’t. And unlike team sports, where there are regulated schedules and predictable points of media access, golf’s access to players can be sporadic and, if they choose, practically nonexistent. That makes it easy for rumors to swirl, and swirl they have; it was just a few months ago that the rumor mill forced pros like Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa to issue statements clarifying their intentions to remain on the PGA Tour.
This was Jordan's:
— Jordan Spieth (@JordanSpieth) July 8, 2022
Dylan takes us through some of the recent history:
Even with a statement, though, it’s impossible to completely disprove a rumor. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau released statements in February ensuring their commitment to the PGA Tour, only to become two of LIV’s earliest signees. Henrik Stenson knew that his commitment to become the European Ryder Cup captain meant he was bound to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, but he soon walked that back, too. Brooks Koepka gave a strange denial at the U.S. Open just days before he committed to LIV. Even when players have addressed the issue specifically, their word hasn’t been foolproof.
LIV is also not a now-or-never decision, which makes it even harder to fully deny leaving. Joining is a concrete action. But not joining still leaves the option, at some later date, to reverse course. Someone can write that X player is “considering” LIV and they’re probably not wrong, because every player has considered LIV. And saying that a player is “going to join LIV” is a bit like someone saying Player Y is “going to win a major.” Even if it doesn’t happen, it’s impossible to truly prove that person wrong until Player Y’s career ends.
Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay have been popular names tossed about in recent weeks; the Guardian went so far as to cite their names in connection with “speculation in Miami” — though the report provided little additional details. (People ran with it anyway.) But I’ve spoken with both Schauffele (here) and Cantlay (here) about this exact topic in recent weeks. To date, everything I know suggests these are just rumors. Neither has sworn off LIV forever, but they’ve also been transparent about the process. I don’t believe either is on the brink of LIV defection.
I kind of assume that, if they wanted the money, they'd have gone already.... Still, the Saudi's subscribe to my theory of life, which is that the greatest aphrodisiacs\ known to man is the word "No," so the offers keep increasing.
Lastly from Dylan, we've all heard about Seve's place going to the dark side, but apparently last week at Mayakoba was, well the last week at Mayakoba:
On the other end of the spectrum, a startup golf blog called Handicap 54 reported that this week’s PGA Tour host at Mayakoba is likely to become a LIV host next year. That same blog was all over the departure of Valderrama from the DP World Tour schedule, which seems all but confirmed with the release of the tour’s latest schedule. That was indicative of the fact that there’s fresh terrain for reporting and fresh faces to do the reporting. While I write for a “traditional” golf media outlet and have dipped my toes in this year’s breaking-news thing, news (and rumors) have come from all over the media world. When the info is right, that’s a cool thing.
Glad that you think it a cool thing, because it seems to this observer to confirm that your employer and you aren't very good at your job. But a pity to lose Mayakoba, just because the guys seem to like it and it's a perfect spot this time of year.
Why perfect? I guess mangrove trees don't lose leaves, so https://golf.com/lifestyle/genius-golf-course-amenity-solves-biggest-nuisance/they don't need these:
Well, at least a few courses — including one major venue — have gotten creative, adding to their greenside offerings a suburban garage staple: leaf blowers. Clever, right? A few sweeps with the handheld machine and your line, if not the whole putting surface, is clean and green.At a recent round at Hazeltine National, TikToker Katie Kelby posted a video that showed a battery-powered Milwaukee leaf blower parked by a green next to a sign that reads: “This blower is to assist you in cleaning debris from the putting line.”“One of my favorite parts about this golf course,” Kelby says of the U.S. Open, PGA Championship and Ryder Cup site.
But wait, it gets worse:
Thought I’d seen it all after 33 years working in golf. Playing in the medal today with his own leaf blower 😂😂#imfindingmyball #noleavesonmyline pic.twitter.com/BcnmPPVc8W
— Stuart Bottrill (@StuartBottrill) October 30, 2022
Just. Say. No!
That will have to sate you, but we'll find more time as the week unfolds.
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