Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Tuesday Tastings - Eye Of The Tiger Edition

 T-Minus 48 hours for you-know-who's return.....

State Of The Tiger - The Tour Confidential panel was always going to dive in on Tiger, this of all weeks, although they started at a less predictable spot:

1. This week’s Hero World Challenge will have extra eyes on it, as tournament host Tiger Woods will be among the 20-player field in the no-cut event in the Bahamas. It will also essentially be the first time Woods has fielded questions from reporters since the 2023 Masters, which was also his last start. Lots has happened since. What are the top two topics you’d love to hear Woods answer questions about candidly?

Candidly?  So we're asking them to fantasize, is it?

James Colgan: The merger! Crazy as it sounds, we still haven’t heard from the man since the golf world flipped on its head. I want to know what he thinks about the prospect of joining forces
with the Saudis. I’d also love to hear Tiger talk about the list of demands submitted to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan that resulted in his becoming the Tour’s sixth player director. That story — and the resultant fallout of a considerable shift in power at the PGA Tour level — feels like one of the most underreported pieces of 2023.

Josh Sens: What does he think pro golf will look like in the years ahead? And since he’ll have a say in that, what does he want it to look like? More elevated events? Fewer? Could he himself stomach playing in events under a Saudi partnership? Would that tarnish the sense of legacy that he values so much? Underlying all of those questions is the issue of the growing divide among pro golf’s biggest stars and the rank-and-file. Does he think more needs to be done to appease those stars? What about the rest of the players who increasingly feel like they’re getting short shrift? Where would Tiger strike the balance? Yeah. I know. That’s more than two questions. At this point, security has ushered me out of the press room.

Jack Hirsh: I think my colleagues above covered a lot of the top questions with one notable exception: His health. I’m not sure I’m more concerned about his health than two years ago, but certainly more than last year. With the fusion surgery he had on his ankle last spring, he likely had to relearn how to walk again. I want to hear about that process and how he had to rework his golf swing to accommodate it. Tiger is normally coy when talking about his injuries, but he’s also more insightful about the golf swing than just about anyone. I bet his press conference could serve as a clinic for golfers battling trail leg injuries.

A Tiger presser is, as the old saw goes, the triumph of hope over experience....  To me his sudden elevation to Player Director is the great uncovered story here.  You'll intuit my sense, which is that he's there to take care of himself and  his elite buds, but the first question would be who thought he should be there (and, perhaps, why?).  In any event, we'll get precious little from the man.

The Colgan response above caused me to revisit that August putsch, and find that I had forgotten Tiger's active involvement:

According to multiple reports, Woods was the leader of a group of more than 40 players who delivered Monahan a letter on Monday detailing a list of demands for the future of the PGA Tour. Monahan swiftly agreed to those mandates, which included installing Woods as a sixth “player director” atop the PGA Tour policy board and granting players the right of first refusal on all aspects of a “definitive agreement” with the PIF. The changes give players a voting majority on PGA Tour matters heading forward, and ensure that Monahan and the Tour’s non-player board members can no longer act unilaterally on behalf of players without their knowledge, as Monahan, Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy did forging the “framework” agreement with the PIF.

The number forty jumps out at me, as I've always used twenty as my shorthand, perhaps PIP-inspired.  But this also jumps out at me as somewhat disingenuous:

“The players thank Commissioner Monahan for agreeing to address our concerns,” he said in a release distributed by the Tour. “We look forward to being at the table with him to make the right decisions for the future of the game that we all love.”

But it didn’t take a linguistics expert to understand the deeper meaning. In perhaps his most brazen move as a playing professional, Woods had led a mutiny to seize back the power of golf’s largest professional tour from its non-playing leadership. Under the new agreement, Monahan was rendered powerless in negotiating a definitive agreement with the Saudis without player support. The players, on the other hand, now hold the full weight of negotiating power — and the counsel and expertise of Colin Neville, a long-time team-golf proponent and newly minted special advisor.

I cringe every time I read something of this ilk, in which the "Players" are treated as a unified voting bloc, which couldn't be further from the reality.

It's a common enough story to see an organization forget its purpose, and lose the faith of its putative owners.  Why does that inevitably happen?  First, because those owners are busy pursuing their demanding careers, often at the same time of life as their building their families.  But the second reason is the widely varying needs and objectives of the "owners", which are easy to play off against each other.

I see this as a coup by the elite players which will change the DNA of the Tour, much to the worse methinks.  The Tour's mandate has historically been to maximize playing opportunities for its rank and file, and to essentially let the cream rise.  There really has never been a need for the Tour to compensate Tiger for being Tiger, because Nike was kind enough to do that for them (if there's one aspect of the golf ecosystem that I think is underappreciated, it's this bifurcated compensation system).  

But obviously we'll see how this plays out, but for what purpose do we think Tiger seized power?  Do we expect him to be an advocate for the journeyman?  No time for a deep dive today, but color me suspicious.  Earl Woods carried a huge chip on his shoulder, and I certainly harbor a suspicion that his son does as well.  This crisis could not be allowed to go to waste, and we'll perhaps get a view into who Tiger Woods really is as a result.

Back to more mundane matters:

2. Woods has played sparingly over the past few years as injuries and a condensed schedule have limited his starts. But what if his game isn’t up to his standards? Could Woods’ play this week give any hint to how much he will attempt to play in 2024?

Colgan: I think we already know how much Tiger Woods is going to play heading forward: minimally. The bigger question is how well will Tiger Woods play golf heading forward. This week we’ll get a much clearer picture of how the subtalar fusion surgery he underwent in April has affected his ability to walk and swing with ease. His score, spare for something crazy, is irrelevant next to how comfortable he seems shooting it.

Sens: I think we can pretty much count on Tiger’s game not being up to his standards this week. How could it be? But I doubt how well he plays this week will determine how often he plays this season. As James says, we know Tiger is going to pick his spots. The majors. Maybe Jack’s event. Maybe the Players. Maybe the Genesis. Ultimately, the deciding factor will be his health, not how well he strikes it or putts it this week.

Hirsh: This week is about one thing: can he still walk 72 holes? He’s only done it two times since his car accident. I don’t think his play means anything this week and I think it’s probably a good bet that he finishes 20th in the field of 20. But if he can walk 72 holes without limping too severely, it will still be a win.

Hirsch with the tip-in.

 A quick one on TGL:

3. Speaking of Tiger, it was announced last week that his tech-infused TGL golf league, which was supposed to launch in January, will now be postponed until 2025 after its roof collapsed. Why such a long delay? And will this setback have any lasting ramifications on the league, including things such as player commitments?

Colgan: My instinct tells me the delay has more to do with the golf schedule than the repairs necessary to get the arena up and running. The issue here is timing: flying pros in for a Monday or Tuesday match, then flying them out to play a 72-hole tournament beginning on Thursday. It’s a big ask! Having it overlap with the major season was too much to ask.

Sens: Agreed, James. There was a window to get this started, and it closed when the roof collapsed. As for what happens going forward, like so much else these days, that seems contingent in large part on what happens in the bigger picture, with the proposed merger. What if the framework agreement falls through and other big names jump to LIV? Would they be welcome on the TGL? Would they even want to join? What about Tiger himself? What if he gets hurt again and can’t take part? What does that do to the league’s prospects and appeal? So much is up in the air, to the point where I don’t think it’s silly to ask—is there a chance that the TGL doesn’t ever get off the ground at all?

Hirsh: I think the cause of the 12-month delay is actually very simple. Monday nights on ESPN are occupied from April to December with Monday Night Baseball in the spring and summer followed by Monday Night Football in the fall. TV is where all the money is, therefore they get to call the shots. If the league was pushed back just a month or two for the dome’s repair, ESPN wouldn’t be able to show matches in April or May on its main channel. I’m sure more went into the decision than that, but money talks and that’s where the majority of it was. I’m still optimistic we see the TGL in 2025.

Yeah, the schedule is the killer, as the window for getting these guys together is really difficult.  But that only makes me understand that this initiative will inevitably hurt their actual weekend tournaments, because of the need to fly back and forth.  Further, it will inevitably hit the weaker events more, at the same time as those events are being devastated by the bifurcation into designated Events vs. Marginal Events.  Yet again, the Tour is backing an initiative that hurts its own sponsors, which is basically what they do once the ink is dry.

I know, they keep signing up and funneling millions to support the cause, then they get Honda'd.  You'd think they'd learn, no?

Just a few other bits. 

Irish Eyes - Who doesn't like a free home trial?

Paul McGinley will step in as temporary lead analyst for NBC Sports’ golf coverage this week at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, according to a report from The Independent in Ireland.
McGinley, 56, is a four-time European Tour winner best known for his captaincy at the 2014 Ryder Cup, where he led the Europeans to a resounding victory. The Irishman has previously appeared on Golf Channel’s “Live From” show, which is owned by NBC, and also appears in Sky Sports’ golf coverage. McGinley reportedly will work alongside NBC play-by-play commentator Dan Hicks and analyst Curt Byrum.

According to the Independent, “McGinley's [TV] future will likely depend on how he does in the Bahamas and future events over the next few months.” McGinley has received kudos for his commentary on "Live From" as he often gets into spirited golf debates with fellow commentators Rich Lerner and Brandel Chamblee.

Brad Faxon will have some advocates, but McGinley seems an amusing chap, though it's always hard to anticipate how they'll play over the endless hours of commentary.   Given that The Zinger move was over salary, this seems portentous:

Sources have told Golf Digest the move is part of a larger overhaul of NBC Sports’ golf coverage, with more changes possibly coming to the company’s Golf Channel brand.

I assume they'll regret turning this down:

Paige Spiranac ready to replace Paul Azinger on NBC Sports amid calls for golf's glamor girl to join the network: 'I'm a woman of the people'

She has one obvious advantage over McGinley, in that she certainly knows what she' selling:

 


Hate to see you sell out, Paige.

An Honor Just To Be Nominated - Alex Myers traditionally gives out his Turkey Awards at this time, reminding us of, well, those whose palms met foreheads in such schadenfreudelicious and, most importantly, publicly.  First, do you care much that Paul Azinger got fired?  I think he'd declined into quite the oddball analysts, with off-kilter takes offered breathlessly.  

That said, NBC/Comcast shows contempt for its audience in how they fired him.  To me, the savings couldn't have moved a needle, but either he's your guy or he's not, it shouldn't turn on the outcome of the4 haggle.  Or am I a hopeless romantic?

But this will arm those who think he wore a short skirt and had it coming:

Paul Azinger: The (former) NBC announcer is back on our list. Look, it's tough being in the booth for hours at a time, but Golf Twitter had a field day with Zinger just about every day he called golf. If we had to single out one moment, though, it would be with his call of Wyndham Clark attempting to get up and down on the par-3 ninth hole at LACC during the final round of the U.S. Open. First, Azinger said it would be impossible for Clark to get his chip within 10 feet of the hole. Wrong. Then he said Clark had missed a slope he needed to hit. Wrong again. Then he continued to say Clark had missed said slope even as millions of people saw the ball perfectly rolling down said slope toward the hole.

It was really wild. Anyway, the result was Clark's ball rolling out to about five feet and him making a huge par save on his way to winning his first major. Oh, and in somewhat related news, Azinger's five-year contract was NOT renewed by NBC Sports at the end of the year. Speaking of that tournament . 

From the Twitterverse:

Are they allowed to do that?   

But I had forgotten about this, even more amusing after his 4-play season:

Aaron Rodgers: We've knocked Rodgers a lot for winning the pro-am portion of the AT&T
Celebrity Pro-Am with a 10 handicap, but he deserves one more QB knockdown. Especially with PGA Tour winner Keith Mitchell calling it "crap" and Josh Allen, who finished fourth alongside Mitchell, telling everyone that Rodgers "sandbagged the world" in addition to literally giving a thumbs down.

Not to mention his impressive past performances in The Match. A 10?! The guy is more full of sand than Pebble Beach itself! To be fair to Rodgers, we could also assess a turkey to whomever at the tournament assigned him that handicap or let him keep it, but like in football, ultimately, the blame falls on the signal caller.

Josh got himself bagged again Sunday night, though under different circumstances.  He might have time on his hands earlier than usual, though no Pebble ProAm for him to grind over.  They had to cancel it so that Patrick can get paid....

This is deserving of its honor as well, the logic escaping your humble blogger:

John Daly/David Duval: To be fair, this pairing of past British Open champs at the Zurich Classic was a combined 107 years old when they teed off. So when you're that long in the tooth you're going to be a longshot in a PGA Tour event. But not only did they finish dead last through two rounds, they finished dead last by 12 shots.

And the next team featured a former military man who had made just one cut in 28 starts on something called the GPro Tour playing on a sponsor exemption. We're guessing Double D and JD won't tee it up together in 2024. While we're on the subject of star-studded teams . . .

How can a sponsor believe that these guys can help their event in 2023?  And Daly always acts as the consummate professional, those twenty-something fines for failure to try being a grave injustice.... A self-inflicted wound of the silliest sort.

I'll leave you nice folks here, and be back at some point later in the week.

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