Monday, January 9, 2023

Weekend Wrap - Elevated Post Edition

As yesterday's concluding round at Kapalua took that bizarre turn there was little to do but turn away in horror....  Fortunately for your humble blogger, this was what caught my averted gaze:


After a day off to rest this creaky body (and watch some football and golf), we'll be back out there shredding it later.  Well, maybe not so much to shred, as it'll be a groomer kind of day, though Open Snow tells me to leave something in the tank for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Maui Meltdown - If an elevated event falls in the forest with a resounding thud, does anyone hear it?  But yowzer, Dylan Dethier ledes with this worthy candidate for the framing Hall of Fame:

The final question posed to Collin Morikawa at his post-round Saturday press conference turned out to be foreshadowing of the most painful kind.

Had he ever held a big-time 54-hole lead like this before?

Morikawa, whose lead was six, paused.

“Well, Hero,” he said with a grin. “It’s okay, I’m over it.”

“Hero” referred to the 2021 Hero World Challenge, where he’d needed a win to get to World No. 1. He put himself in position, building a five-shot lead through three rounds, only to shoot 41 on the front nine Sunday and evaporate from contention. He wound up a heartbroken T5.

You might be over it, though I'm not so sure about the rest of us....

But, given the results, this sartorial challenge for the Spaniard is quite amusing:

Still, he was so far back entering the Sunday’s round that he didn’t think twice about what he normally considers an off-limits final-round outfit. He likes to wear a pinkish-red shirt on Sundays but typically avoids pairing it with black pants out of respect for golf’s most iconic uniform.

“I usually don’t want to wear anything that’s close to red and black on Sundays because of Tiger. That’s his outfit,” he said.

Instead, he’ll pair the shirt with gray or navy pants. But in his preparations for Maui Rahm neglected to pack his usual supply of belts. (“I also forgot socks,” he said. “Yeah, I forgot a few things.”) By the time he got to Sunday, he’d run through his supply of navy pants, too. Red and black it was.

“We’re so far away [from the lead], whatever,” Rahm told himself. “I’m like, we’re going to need a small miracle.”

Two miracles actually, but whatya know....

Dylan has lots of reactions from the two protagonists that are worth your time, though the Morikawa stuff isn't for the faint of heart.  The focus will, inevitably, be on the young man's implosion, an interesting phenomenon for sure.  But let's not elide that Rahm shot a 10-under 63 Sunday, making his a deserved champion.  As the 2022 season began, I was curious to see if the Spaniard could separate himself from the field, only to see him regress fairly substantially.  As with all my predictions, some are dead-ass wrong, while others are merely early....

Of course, as we noted last week, he only had to beat 38 other guys... so, perhaps I should chill.

Morikawa's reaction sounds constructive, though I won't be so cruel as to Google his reaction to that Hero World collapse:

Afterward, Morikawa said he felt “sadness.” That “it sucks.” Kudos to him for talking.

“You work so hard and you give yourself these opportunities and just bad timing on bad shots and kind of added up really quickly,” he said. “Don’t know what I’m going to learn from this week, but it just didn’t seem like it was that far off. It really wasn’t. Yeah, it sucks.”

On the contrary, he was hitting on all cylinders for 63 holes..... But this is part of what makes our game so fascinating and bewildering, no?

The Tour Confidential panel leads with this very subject:

1. The PGA Tour kicked off its year at the Tournament of Champions, and we watched one of the worst collapses in recent memory. Collin Morikawa, up six to begin the final round, stumbled over his back nine, making three-straight bogeys at one point, and that opened the door for Jon Rahm, who shot a nine-under 63 to win by two. We’ll start with Morikawa, and we’ll ask it simply: Where does he go from here?

Alan Bastable: The practice green, for starters. You don’t need a Ph.D., in Golf Analysis to deduce where it went wrong for Morikawa Sunday: on and around the greens. This isn’t a new
issue. Last season, he finished 131st in SG: Putting (and 168th from inside 10 feet) and 152nd in SG: Around-the-Green. His ball-striking remains near-peerless but seems the closer he gets to the hole, the more the struggles — and that’s a serious problem come Sunday afternoons, when the significance of every shot is magnified. This is a day he’ll want to vanquish from his memory bank as soon as possible. As Morikawa himself said, “It’s hard to look at the positives.”

Jack Hirsh: It may be difficult now, but when Morikawa takes his time to reflect on this week, he’ll see he had one of his best putting performances of his career. He ended up finishing second for the week in SG: Putting, but he was leading the stat until the back nine. It’s clear the changes he’s working on with Stephen Sweeney are taking hold. I’m sure the last thing he wanted to be asked about Saturday night was the 2021 Hero, where he blew a five-shot lead after 54 holes. With how good his ball-striking normally is, he doesn’t have to putt and chip lights out, but he was putting lights out for most of the week. I think there seems to be a mental block with him winning right now. His next step could very well be working with a mental coach to get past it.

Josh Berhow: I thought an interview Collin did last year with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis said a lot about his mindset. Lewis relayed some of Trevor Immelman’s comments, in which Immelman explained Morikawa was so good early in his career it would be extremely difficult to replicate that success. Immelman meant it as a compliment, but Morikawa took it as a slight. What does that mean in this context? It means he’s stubborn and expects more of himself, so he’ll be just fine. There’s no lack of drive there. And while Morikawa’s chipping and putting let him down on Sunday, he was actually pretty good in those areas the first three rounds (especially putting). A bad round and a bad three holes, but he had eight top 10s last year. He’s not going anywhere and has the game to win in bunches when things are clicking.

Josh Sens: Not to be blase about it, but … these things happen. Even to the greatest. Chipping was a weakness last year. It looked great for much of the week. But changes take time to hardwire. This was his first tournament testing his tweaks under pressure. No doubt he can’t be happy. But if you’d listened to Hicks and Azinger’s commentary down the stretch, you would have thought Morikawa had been diagnosed with a fatal illness. He stumbled. Rahm shot a great round. Life moves on.

Hirsh: Interesting thought reading this, Josh. Do you think there is a bit of Tiger-effect here, conditioning us to forget blown leads can happen to the best?

Sens: For sure. Nobody’s nerfect. Tiger just made it look that way for a long while.

I think we can all agree that nobody's nerfect, but also that Golf.com could use some proofreaders, as they seem to have as many typos as my own posts, which isn't a great look.

But, Josh, the chipping yips pretty much are a fatal disease....or at least an untreatable one.

What fascinates me, is the cognitive dissonance of Morikawa's short career.  In grabbing those two quick majors he seemed a cold-blooded big-game hunter, one able to summon great play in the crucible of major Sundays.  But, while we all understand that playing with a lead is somehow different, two major collapses is hard to square with the guy we saw at Harding Park and Sandwich.  What comes next for Collin has just become quite interesting, methinks.

Of course, it does place him on this unfortunate list:

You'll no doubt anticipate that I can't resist excerpting this one:

Greg Norman, 1996 Masters Tournament

Whatever became of that guy?  Anyone know what's he's up to these days?

Back to the TC gang for their further thoughts, first on the victor:

2. On to the winner. We’ve seen plenty of explosive play from Jon Rahm over the years, but what did you learn about Rahm and/or his game on this particular Sunday?

Bastable: When it comes to the debate about which player is the best when he’s at his best, in recent years Rory McIlroy has been the stock answer. Might be time to swap in Rahm’s name. When Rahmbo gets rolling, there are few golfing spectacles quite like it: an avalanche of blistered drives, nifty chips and dead-center putts.

Hirsh: Nothing I didn’t already know. Rahm has already won a number of times from behind, and we know he can take it deep. It was hard to imagine Morikawa blowing this at the beginning of the day, of course, but if anyone was going to catch him, it was going to be Rahm.

Sens: All of the above. So much firepower.. On the flip side, although he’s still plenty demonstrative out there, the fits of pique we used to see out of him are now more tempered these days. Maturity plus world-beating talent. Tough to top.

Berhow: You see that fist-pump after he finished off his Sunday 63? This was no low-key, easy-money cash grab in Hawaii to him. I’d expect a big year from him, but that shouldn’t be a surprising prediction to anyone.

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but it has me wondering if he can separate himself from the pack.... 

One final bit from Kapalua:

3. Whose 2023 PGA Tour debut gave you even more promise for their upcoming season?

Bastable: Max Homa continues to impress. After a slow start (70-70) at the TOC, he closed 63-66 to finish at 23 under and in a tie for third. Interestingly, he said afterward that he’s been working hard on his mental game, staying in the moment, playing one shot at a time, yadda yadda, and that new mindset seemed to be useful this week after what he described as a “frustrating” first two rounds. The best golfers are as mentally unflappable as they are physically talented. If Homa puts it all together this year, watch out.

Hirsh: Bastable took my answer! Luckily I came prepared with a second and that was Will Zalatoris. Zalatoris also got off to a slow start in his return from injury, playing the first eight holes one over, but he rebounded to break 70 each day and finished with a 65 to notch a T11. Nothing fancy, but in an elite field, that’s a pretty successful return after three-plus months off. He’s going to get only better from here.

Sens: Sungjae Im. A good early bet for Augusta.

Berhow: Tom Kim, in his first trip to Hawaii and still just 20 years old, tied for fifth and shot four rounds in the 60s. This kid isn’t going anywhere.

Zalatoris being healthy is certainly promising, but for the rest it's really early days.  

OK, I sort of lied.... this characteristic bit from ClubProGuy might amuse:

Not gonna make Collin feel any better about things....

Wither LIV -  This is true enough:

LIV Golf has gone mostly quiet. That’s new

Curious for a Tour that's branded, "Golf, but louder™", though I'm happy for the interregnum.  

So if you’ve taken the PGA Tour’s side in this civil war, enjoy this moment! It won’t be quiet for
long. But when LIV Golf does return to the headlines, it will be fascinating to see how much noise it can actually create. Last year was a slow burn of statements, events, pre-tournament press conferences, world ranking requests and letters that began “Surely, you jest.” Even when LIV was stagnant, it felt like it was evolving.

Part of the reason the league has gone mute is one of its prime characteristics: an offseason. Phil Mickelson will have had three months away from competition by the time he inevitably tees it up at the Saudi International. If he skips that event, it’s three months and three weeks away. LIV-ers highlighted this as one of their favorite aspects of the tour, promising the golf world they want to play less. Joaquin Niemann spent a lot of his break back home in Chile, putting on his best recruiting effort for fellow countryman Mito Pereira.

Mito leads the league in rumors, so the only surprise there is that he hasn't actually defected yet.  But the quiet also seems, at least partially, because the actual news hasn't been great for them:

The other interesting reason for LIV silence is upheaval in the c-suite. Atul Khosla, widely regarded as one of the key brains behind LIV’s business, resigned from his role as chief operating officer in the month that followed LIV’s first season. Mere weeks after sharing LIV’s business model with reporters. When the New York Times reported on Khosla’s exit, Greg Norman provided a statement to the publication, but no further public announcement was made by LIV. Khosla’s bio was still on LIV’s leadership webpage at the time, but has since been removed. His stewardship has been replaced by a combination of high-level staffers from Performance54, a golf marketing company that has worked with LIV from its inception. (Meanwhile, LIV lawyers have argued in court that Performance54 is not a LIV Golf agent.) Furthermore, this week Sports Business Journal reported that Matt Goodman, LIV’s President of Franchises, was no longer a part of its management.

I thin Ian Fleming put it best:

“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action”

 Or maybe Geoff did:

Making the economics work when you've committed $200 million to Phil?  That's a good one....

But Geoff or somebody needs to explain to me the origin of this purported franchise value.  LIV has committed to paying the guys for these team results, but where does the franchise value derive from?  Tee-shirt sales?  This from Golf Digest seems, well, delusional:

As LIV Golf transitions to Year 2, taking on the moniker of the LIV Golf League, officials have touted the franchise component of the endeavor as a primary facilitator for future sponsorships and revenue. Twelve teams are expected to be competing in a 14-event schedule beginning in late February. The 12 captains—who figure to be high-profile players such as Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Cam Smith—would have as much as a 25-percent equity stake in their teams. Each team would cover their own operating costs, using sponsorships, team prize money and merchandise to do so.

To players and potential sponsors and owners, the number LIV Golf has forecasted has stayed consistent, sources tell Golf Digest: a $1 billion potential valuation for a four-man club. However, LIV Golf lacked any formal sponsorship during its inaugural season, while spending $784 million to launch the circuit. A month out from its sophomore campaign it is unclear what, if any, financial backers are lined up for 2023.

Unclear?  Excuse me, but I think we have perfect clarity, there are none for quite obvious reasons. 

But two fairly substantial promised deliverables remain outstanding, this being the less significant of the two:

So perhaps LIV has had reason to stay out of the news recently. And perhaps the slow release of 2023 intel didn’t make sense before the holidays. At LIV’s team competition in October, reporters were told to expect a finalized schedule to be released in November. When that didn’t happen, December was the next obvious opportunity. Instead, LIV has released just half of its events, sprinkled out in spurts.

Then there's that nagging bit about a TV contract.... The golf might be louder, but also invisible....

But now the plot thickens.... I certainly didn't see this coming:


Things could get a little awkward next month.

During the week of the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is the Saudi International in Saudi Arabia, an Asian Tour event sponsored by the Public Investment Fund. Alas, the same folks
backing the LIV Golf series, which is in numerous lawsuits against the Tour, have created a rift in the golf community over the past year.

And, according to a report from Golf Channel, a ‘few’ PGA Tour players have asked and been granted releases to play in the Saudi International, which is scheduled from Feb. 2-5 at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.

The report didn’t specify exactly how many players were granted conflicting-event and media releases. The event used to be a DP World Tour stop until the emergence of LIV Golf.

No explanation has been given, but one can only imagine that this involved layer upon layer of lawyers, as Alan Shipnuck implies:

 One assumes Mito will be on that list, no?

But the Pebble event is not on that list of "designated Events", and one can only wonder how this all looks to AT&T, another long-term Tour sponsor seeming to take it in the shorts.  

On the more substantive issue of who else might be departing, it's hard to know what the silence might indicate.  There's of course the argument to be made that anyone inclined to go has already bolted, with the only that Mito exception.  But, with the possible exception of this Saudi event, there's money to be made on the PGA Tour and little need to jump until late February, when LIV holds its first 2023 event.  

Of course, this unimpeachable source tells us it's gonna rock our world:

Hey, the LIV Twitter bot wouldn't lie to us, would it?

Though this tweet, from a reputable source, indicates that the C-suite might be more depopulated than we realize:

Boy, growing the game is hard work.  

Kapalua Memories -  Alan Shipnuck relates a story that I remember from ten or more years ago, although his version doesn't exactly square with my own recollections:

As I recall it, Gulbis was shown on Golf Channel and it was made quite clear that she was there with DJ.  But late in the week DJ was asked about it on camera, and denied even knowing Gulbis, an extremely public humiliation of a woman that had flown halfway around the world to be there.

 Good times except, yanno, for Natalie.

Cry Me A River - We had our bomb cyclone in New York, but the Left Bank has been dealing with an atmospheric river, generating dramatic videos such as this from Monterrey Peninsula Country Club:

Crazy stuff.

Notable Quotables -  I'm eyeing the exit, but Gary Van Sickle had posted some great quotes from 2022 that are worth excerpting, if only to amuse ourselves.  Given the year we had, it's not at all shocking that some of these haven't aged like a fine claret.

This guy got an early nod from me as most annoying LIVster:

NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, YOU WILL NEVER PLAY A RYDER OR PRESIDENTS CUP

“I haven’t played a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup, but I can’t imagine there’s a whole hell of a lot of a difference. This was as cool as it gets. It’s awesome.” —Talor Gooch after his squad won a LIV Golf team title in Portland.

Fact check: It would be hard to be more wrong. Example: “I’ve never driven a Bentley, but I can’t imagine there’s a hell of a lot of difference from driving a Toyota Corolla.”

Amusing if only because of how little Gooch has done in our game.

And this from a guy we're well done with:

YES, HOW DARE WE QUESTION YOUR INTEGRITY, SIR!

“It’s been pretty clear for a long time now that I’m with the PGA Tour, it’s where I’m staying. … [LIV Golf] will get their guys. Somebody will sell out and go.” —Brooks Koepka at the WM Phoenix Open in February

So, everyone that goes is a sell-out?  Finally I've found common ground with Brooksie....

HOW MANY MILLION 'OPINIONS' DID IT TAKE?

“Opinions change. I did what’s best for me.”—Brooks Koepka, explaining his defection to LIV Golf shortly after the U.S. Open.

 Not to worry, Brooks, it's not like we ever assigned any value to your opinions.

if you like last night's sunset, can I interest you in this morning's sunrise?


I'll see you as the week unfolds, although I'll be playing it by ear
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