1. Scottie Scheffler’s run at three straight wins fell just short at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. Scheffler missed a 5 1/2-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole that would have forced a playoff with Stephan Jaeger, but instead the miss handed the 34-year-old Jaeger his first career win in his 135th start. What did you learn about Scheffler over this last month?Nick Dimengo: That he’s got Tiger blood, so to speak. During Woods’ dominant decade, he never took a tournament, round or hole off; he went out every week expecting to win. Scheffler may be ways away from what we saw with Woods, but the same winning mentality is there.
Tiger blood? I think there's a point to be made about Scottie's consistency, but what he does against such a week fields isn't going to be very instructive....
Josh Sens: That he has both a dominating game and the mindset to treat every week as a big week, regardless of the event. He’s not pulling a Brooks Koepka and saving his ammo for majors only.
I don't think his ball-striking actually has an OFF switch. It would be interesting to compare his ball-striking and putting numbers, because the little action I saw featured some especially uninspired misses on short putts/ The question is how badly can he putt and still win, and I suspect the answer is pretty badly.
Josh Berhow: That the rest of the Tour needs to play its absolute best to beat him and then also hope Scottie isn’t firing on all cylinders. Everyone has some funky stuff happen to them over the course of 72 holes, but Scottie made two double bogeys on a careless three-putt from inside 7 feet and a wedge that he thought was perfect that spun off the green and into the water — and he still nearly won. But he’s got that fight in him, too. Look at the 18th hole on Sunday for example. Skinns needed birdie and pulled it left into a bunker. Jaeger needed birdie to seal it and hit a so-so shot to 20 feet. Scheffler knew he needed birdie and hit a dart to 5 feet. He missed the putt, sure, but he’s got another level to his game others don’t.
Or, to put it another week, if he's average with the putter, can anyone beat him?
The Tour now heads to San Antonio for another event we here at Unplayable Lies will feel free to ignore.
Whoa, Nelly! - Been waiting to see what the girl has. It's taken a bit of time, as some injuries and/or illness have intruded in odd ways, but the girl is officially on a heater. Not that this TC panel Q&A is at all enlightening:
2. Speaking of winning streaks, don’t forget about Nelly Korda, who won the Ford Championship on Sunday to claim her third straight win on the LPGA Tour. Korda also won last week, and her first win of this stretch came in late January at the LPGA Drive On Championship. What’s gotten into Korda so far in 2024? And is her streak actually more impressive than Scheffler’s recent run since it spans a longer time frame?Dimengo: Yes, it’s more impressive than Scheffler’s — because golf is hard, and to maintain that kind of consistency over four days (let alone three different tournaments) is insane! As for what’sgotten into her, I might have to ask her coach, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jamie Mulligan, who may have a better answer than I ever could.Sens: What’s happening mechanically I couldn’t say. But so much of golf comes down to mindset. The confidence and calm to stay in the moment and swing with absolute belief. Korda is fresh off a voluntary break from the game, which she seemed to relish. She herself said it. That’s just golf. Sometimes everything clicks and the mental and physical positives keep feeding off each other. As for which is more impressive, that’s splitting hairs. But you could make the argument that Korda’s streak is more impressive. Not because of its length but because the women’s game isn’t divided, like the men’s game, with top players splintered off on different circuits. Only at the majors do you have to beat “everyone.”Berhow: She hits it far and she’s pretty accurate, and her ball-striking is some of the best on tour. She rarely misses greens and is a good and streaky putter. But more than all of that, she’s just smart and consistent. She knows what she does well and plays to her strengths. It’s very Scheffler-like, in a way, in the fact that she’s just always hanging around. It’s boringly good. Her bad rounds are never really bad enough — or frequent enough — that it keeps her out of contention. I also think she’s a little refreshed to start this season, as Sens mentioned, which can go a long way. As for if her streak is better than Scottie’s, it’s hard to say. She had less attention around her and had a big break in between the first and second win, but they are both ridiculously impressive in their own way. It will be fun to see if Nelly can make it four in a row, because this week’s event in Vegas will make players flex both stroke-play and match-play muscles.
The Nelly Korda Era was heralded a few years back, and has mostly laid an egg for the reasons noted above. I'm interested to see what the girl can do, but these are a series of really weak events from which to draw conclusions.
But it does tee up an interesting summer, so let's see what the girl can do when things get real.
On Tiger - We'll have to give the TC panel credit for impulse control, as they deferred this inevitable bit until the third question this week:
3. Only one more PGA Tour event sits between now and the Masters, and Tiger Woods is among those already prepping for the first major of the season. Woods made a weekend trip to Augusta National — reportedly playing with Justin Thomas and club chairman Fred Ridley — and all signs point to him teeing it up for his 26th Masters in less than two weeks from now. Woods knows the course better than anyone, but based on his minimal starts and health the past couple of years, what should we expect from him at the 2024 Masters?Dimengo: As always with Woods, it comes down to his health. I know he withdrew from the Genesis last month due to illness, but even during his brief appearance at that event, nobody really got a glimpse of how he’s playing or feeling physically. At Augusta, I expect him to make the cut; he knows the course better than anyone. The five-time champ should consider anything better than T25 a huge victory (although you know he won’t).Sens: It’s easy to get carried away with romantic expectations. But if we are being reasonable, it’s hard to imagine him getting through two competitive rounds on such a hilly course without some serious discomfort and awkward swings. I hope he contends. But I wouldn’t wager on him to make the cut.Berhow: So many things have to go right for him these days. The cold, rainy weather didn’t help his chances last year, and he needs to avoid nagging injuries before and during the tournament. I still think he can make the cut — which isn’t as difficult to do at Augusta compared to other majors — although not sure he’d be in contention come Sunday. But if everything lines up, he’s proven you shouldn’t bet against him.
I'm old enough to remember when he was teasing us with the concept of playing once a month this year. But, not withstanding that he finished all of one round in LA, he couldn't be bothered playing another event. The Masters cut is so easy to make that I'd never predict otherwise, but there's no basis to assume that he can play at a high level for four days.
Today In LIV Nonsense - A couple of items for you here, leading with this howler:
4. While the PGA Tour heads to San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open and its final Masters tune-up, LIV Golf returns to the states after stops in Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong. While Anthony Kim won’t be in Augusta, it will be the first time we see the mysterious star teeing it up in the U.S. since 2012. What kind of reception do you think he’ll receive at Trump Doral in Miami?Dimengo: Kim’s return to pro golf is a fascinating one, and I think even the most casual fans are rooting for him to play well. Who doesn’t like a good comeback story? I expect bigger crowds and more support for him in Miami, given the attention he’s gotten since his first LIV tourney.
Fascinating? Not to ordinarily casual fans, perhaps, but obviously to the most casual fans..... What attention? Sure, he'll get more support in Miami, because there was absolutely no one there in Saudi and Hong Kong.
Sens: My sense is that Kim was more fascinating to fans in his absence than he has been in his return. He will get a warm reception, of course. But unless he plays exceptionally well, I’m not expecting a lot of pomp and circumstance around him. At this point, he counts mostly as another very good golfer who isn’t Tiger Woods. Which is part of the problem pro golf is up against in these divided days in the game.Berhow: It might be a better playing experience for Anthony, since he’ll see and feel a little more love than what he probably got overseas, but the watery course he’s going to face might actually give him more headaches than the other two. I still think it would have been better to have this week be his LIV debut, but I also see the PR narrative of slowly dipping the toes into the water. Anyway, if he’s got something super low in his back pocket, this would be a good week to trot it out.
Hey, somebody has to finish behind Graeme McDowell.... What nobody mentions is the Asian Tour event he played after those two LIV events, which might have been even more embarrassing. The story only works if he still has any skills, and thus far those haven't been in evidence. And given that LIV stands accused of being a clown show, this was a strange way to rebut those allegations.
This next item falls into the Stupid Is A Stupid Does category:
Professional golf’s growing entitlement problem extends beyond the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Just listen to Chris DiMarco, who joined the Subpar podcast with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz this week and his comments came off as anything but humble.The ongoing discussions between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – the financial backers of the Tour’s rival, LIV Golf – have hung over the game like a cloud for nearly a year now. When asked about the current state of the professional game, the three-time PGA Tour winner from 2000-2002 didn’t waste any time and unloaded thoughts on the money being thrown around and why the PGA Tour Champions, of all tours, deserve more of it.“We’re kind of hoping that (LIV Golf) buys the Champions Tour,” DiMarco said. “Let’s play for a little real money out here. I mean this is kind of a joke when we’re getting $2 million. There were like seven guys last week from (TPC Sawgrass at the Players Championship) that made more money than our purses.”
Chris, perhaps you didn't hear, but they only want to invest in professional tours.... Seriously, where'd you get the 'shrooms?
I'm typically not a fan of punching down, but Eamon Lynch addresses DiMarco's nonsense with deftness, making some relevant points such as this:
Talk to most any player on the Champions Tour and you’ll find they are pissed at how the PGA Tour they helped build is being treated by the current generation as wholly their asset to remortgage, at how naked greed is trumping any sentiment about the greater good of the game. The flat-bellies might dismiss veterans with ‘get off my lawn’ memes and eye rolls, but theirs are important voices in any conversation about the Tour’s future. Which is why some experienced hands will find it frustrating that one of their own mounted a dumb argument—that senior purses aren’t adequately financed—and chose a dumb time to do it.
Just when I'd accepted that we can't grow the game without paying Patrick, I'm now informed that we have to pay Chris as well..... Anyone else?
But reality's a bitch, and Eamon serves up a heaping platter thereof:
The new for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises, is going to reshape men’s professional golf.Along the way, every budget line in the Global Home will be subjected to close scrutiny and value assessments not rooted in sentimentality. That will include all the tours operating under the mothership’s umbrella. The degree to which the Champions Tour is subsidized by headquarters is often exaggerated. According to one source familiar with internal accounting, it’s no more than a few million dollars annually. That’s pennies for an organization now valued at $12 billion, but pennies are snatched back first in pursuit of dollars, and this is not the time to suggest that even bigger handouts might be in order.There’s an understandable disconnect between what the Champions Tour is commercially and what many of its members imagine it to be competitively. Players see a cutthroat circuit where every buck is hard-earned, which is fair enough. But the business of the Champions Tour is essentially that of an elevated pro-am circuit, with 200-odd amateurs paying to play both Wednesdays and Thursdays, with another 100-ish on Mondays, if there’s demand. Television viewership is meager, worryingly so since a decent percentage of those watching could be in danger of expiring during the broadcast window. The value of the Champions Tour lies in being an on-site entertainment platform that can support itself (albeit in orthopedic shoes), not as a product with a monetizable audience of scale and global growth potential.
There's a new sheriff in town, thanks to that $1.5 billion from SSG, and the return the Tour needs to generate thereon.
It's ironically amusing, in that those elite players that seized control of the Tour at the famous Delaware meeting have shown their contempt for the Tour rabbits of the world, carving them out of the big money events. Next they'll shown their contempt for those that preceded them by attacking the subsidy of the Champions' Tour... Chris just doesn't seem to get that it isn't about him....it's about Patrick.
But here Eamon himself might have been into the 'shrooms:
That might change after December 30, 2025, when Tiger Woods turns 50 years old and becomes eligible to join the circuit. If he can’t or won’t play, then the Champions Tour will never have been less relevant. If he does compete, even sparingly, Woods could boost the Tour’s value well beyond pro-am receipts. But until such times manifest, those who play out there are paid sufficiently within the parameters of what their tour is.
Oh, sure, Tiger is just dying to get out there to compete with, checking notes, Stephen Alker....
If you think I've been harsh, take a gander at this guy's reaction:
Of all the sick things said by pro golfers in the past few years, this from DiMarco might be the sickest. They’re lucky a senior tour even exists! https://t.co/IrTrbk9ReH
— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) March 27, 2024
Although, when DiMarco says that his tour is a joke, he's got a point....
That Fifth Major - We keep hearing about how important Olympic Golf is, though we keep hearing it from Xander Schauffelle and Justin Rose.... But they're dropping like flies:
This summer in Paris will be golf's third appearance in the Olympics since the sport returned in 2016 after a 112-year absence. However, a number of marquee names bowed out of the 2016 RioGames due to fears of the Zika virus, and though turnout was improved at the COVID-delayed 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, some of the game’s biggest stars still skipped the proceedings. While participation is expected to increase in 2024, not everyone wants to compete.Koepka, the reigning PGA champ and five-time major winner, has asked the International Golf Federation to have his name dropped from consideration, according to internal documents at the IGF. Koepka would have faced an uphill battle in qualifying for the United States team; the top two players in the Official World Golf Ranking are automatically selected from any country, with up to four qualifying if all are ranked among the top 15 in the OWGR. Because LIV Golf has not secured OWGR accreditation, Koepka has dropped to No. 31 in the World Ranking, 18th among all Americans. Hatton, who recently defected to LIV Golf, would currently just miss out on a spot for Great Britain as he currently ranks No. 16 in the OWGR while two Brits, Matt Fitzpatrick (9) and Tommy Fleetwood (10) ahead of him. However, unless he does well in the major championships, it’s likely he would continue to drop as the year progresses.Scott’s withdrawal is not a surprise. The Aussie had previously stated his apathy of golf’s inclusion in the Olympics, referring to it as an “exhibition” and the the better idea would be to allow amateurs in the field. He passed on both the 2016 and 2021 games. Scott is currently 51st in the OWGR, third highest among Australians behind Jason Day (20) and Min Woo Lee (32).
It's mostly guys that weren't going to be there anyway, but Adam Scott is not wrong. It is an exhibition, but so are those Signature Events, in case Adam didn't notice. Maybe he's just pouting because he can't get a sponsor's exemption into the Olympics.
The bigger issuer might come form the mixed event they're trying to jam in. Will the guys make themselves available for that?
I told you I wouldn't keep you long. We'll be taking it easy this week to preserve energy to flood the zone for Masters week, so please bear with us.
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