Midweek Musings - Hall of Slain Warriors Edition

They got the name of the golf club from somewhere, yanno.  Although Norse mythology seems an inapt fit with sultry Louisville...

Bye, Erica - Sad news, though one might note that it didn't affect his golf game last weekend:

Rory McIlroy has filed for divorce from his wife, Erica Stoll. Golfweek confirmed the news via online court records in Palm Beach County, Florida, as did McIlroy’s communications team.

The 35-year-old Northern Irishman filed for a dissolution on Monday, May 13, a day after his 26th PGA Tour win at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship and a day before he arrived on site at Valhalla Golf Club for the 2024 PGA Championship. McIlroy’s last major victory came 10 years ago here at Valhalla at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

McIlroy and Stoll, a former PGA of America employee, became engaged in December 2015 and married in April 2017. The couple had a daughter, Poppy, in September 2020.

Pretty sure they still have the daughter....

Erica, you might recall, was responsible for getting Rory to Medinah for his singles tee time after he confused time zones.  The romance came later, but while I've often suggested that Rory clean house in his posse, I was thinking more of the childhood best friend caddie....

We never know how the players' personal lives affect their performance, but the two best players in the world both arrive at the PGA Championship with profound changes at home.  Stay tuned.

Bye, Jimmy - The act is curious, but the timing seems, well, curious.

On May 12, 2023, Jimmy Dunne was in Venice, Italy, meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, among others. Jay Monahan was there, too, looking to

establish an agreement between the PIF and the PGA Tour to reunify the sport. Exactly one year and one day later — on May 13, 2024 — Dunne issued his resignation from the PGA Tour Policy Board, due to a lack of progress with that agreement.

Dunne’s resignation arrived Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern time in the form of a 361-word letter to his fellow board directors, which was obtained by GOLF.com and first reported by Sports Illustrated. Ultimately, two words stood out above the others: utterly superfluous. That’s how Dunne described his role and the weight of his vote less than 12 months after reaching a Framework Agreement with the PIF and the DP World Tour.

“Since the players now outnumber the Independent Directors on the Board, and no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with the PIF, I feel like my vote and my role is utterly superfluous,” Dunne wrote.

“It is crucial for the Board to avoid letting yesterday’s differences interfere with today’s decisions, especially when they influence future opportunities for the Tour. Unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game. I have tried my best to move all minds in that direction.”

Rory hardest hit?

That bit about the 6-5 player majority seems to be putting this all in Tiger's lap (after all, he's the sixth man and has the unlimited term), though Jimmy seems to have left quite the mess for others to clean up.

The call for unification will get an "Amen" from Rory, it's perhaps a poker tell as to how things stand among those six players, making one skeptical that Rory's new committee will make any meaningful progress, assuming Cantlay will continue to play Dr. NNo.

A couple of key bits, at least top this observer:

But only a framework was signed into place — a deal to make to a deal — one that included both sides dropping their ongoing litigation, at a time when Tour and LIV executives, players, agents, board members, etc., were starting to be deposed. In his letter, Dunne noted, “a path was created for the Tour to remain in control of professional golf.”

Yes, a term sheet with no terms, as some of us noticed.  It's eye of the beholder stuff, with one take being that the only bits that mattered, the withdrawal of the antitrust lawsuit primary, were covered in the D-Day Agreement, and that the rest of the deal wasn't ever intended to be completed.

But I've been using the C-word for longer:

At the end of July, Tiger Woods was hastily added in what amounted to a coup. Forty-one of the best players on Tour demanded so in a middle-of-the-night letter to Monahan, and a day later it was enacted. They wanted equal representation between players and independent directors on the board and they got it. Woods remains the only player without a fixed term. In November, the head of Valero Energy, Joe Gorder, filled the empty board seat left by Randall Stephenson, who resigned in July saying he could not “in good conscience support” a deal.

The coup actually happened in Delaware, though Jay avoided Elba and St. Helena, at least for now.

Never shy, Shack had this take:

There was little chance to catch any of the range chatter because (A) the PGA of America no longer allows media on the range in addition to numerous new bizarro restraints on press access, (B) the Dunne letter only reinforced that the Tour is a directionless chaotic mess being run by a bunch of players who should not be running a business.

I'm not sure the issue is the absence of a rudder, but more the competing versions thereof.  That said, who is in charge? 

Geoff is predictably all over the timing issue, which I'll introduce with this note:

After Dunne’s Monday resignation, the PGA Tour’s Commissioner told players in a message that the organization would not be commenting out of respect to the PGA of America.

Well, that's very considerate..... at least until you realize that Dunne wouldn't have stepped on the PGA of America with the release of his letter without said Commissioner's approval... Hardly the first time we've been lied to by these clowns.

Dunne’s timing is curious, at best. While it could be seen as rude to the PGA of America by dropping this a few hours before most player press conferences, I sense more to this story we don’t know just yet.

And while Dunne might not have been the ideal choice for explaining the infamous June 6th deal on national television, when someone who loves the game and has nothing to gain from serving on the board declares this at such a sensitive time, Dunne seems to be reinforcing what a disastrous mess the Tour has become.

This is a message being sent.  Whether it's to the Saudis, Tiger or Rory,. I don't know, but the timing of this is quite intentional.

Update: The pushback on the "no progress" meme is in full swing, first Jay:

But PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan pushed directly back against that “no meaningful progress” narrative in a late-night text sent to players on Monday, insisting that “we continue to make meaningful progress behind the scenes in our negotiations toward a potential agreement with the PIF.”

The goal of negotiations, Monahan added, remains simple: “To deliver the best possible outcome for the PGA Tour, our players, partners, tournaments and fans.”

So, Jimmy must be dealing in some of that Russian disinformation, eh?  But, remind me Jay, who put Jimmy in charge of negotiating with Yasir?

This guy is the leader in the clubhouse in non-answer answers:

Tiger Woods addressed the discussions on Tuesday morning. Sort of.

“It’s ongoing; it’s fluid; it changes day-to-day,” he said. “Has there been progress? Yes. But it’s an ongoing negotiation, so a lot of work ahead for all of us with this process, and so we’re making steps and it may not be giant steps, but we’re making steps.”

Woods referenced the PGA Tour as “for the players and by the players.” He said there’s a place for the player directors and for the independent directors, too. He said he couldn’t get into too much detail on the state of negotiations. But he acknowledged general fatigue on the subject.

“I think the fans are probably as tired as we are of the talk not being about the game of golf and about not being about the players,” he said. “It’s about what LIV is doing, what we’re doing, players coming back, players leaving; the fans just want to see us play together. How do we get there is to be determined.”

For the players?  No quibble with the concept that it's for certain layers.... 

Spieth has been fingered as part of the Dr. No Troika, but he too is pushing back:

But we got slightly more from Jordan Spieth, who addressed the media an hour after Woods and was asked specifically about Dunne’s comments about the board shifting in the direction of

player control.

“I would say that I think that there’s been a shift that direction, but I think that we’re finding the appropriate balance going forward,” Spieth said. He referenced the natural motion of a seesaw. He insisted that based on the opinions of experts and lawyers they’ve worked with, the governance structure is in a good spot.

The subject clearly struck a nerve with Spieth, who took over Rory McIlroy’s vacated board seat last fall and has been working extensively behind the scenes on crafting a stable future for the Tour. But in recent weeks multiple reports have pointed the finger at him, Patrick Cantlay and Woods for slowing negotiations, blocking a potential merger and clashing with McIlroy’s vision for a deal. Spieth insisted on Tuesday that that’s not the case.

“I think we’re going to be at a really, really good place where the players on the PGA Tour can feel really good about it, as well as not having players making business decisions,” he added. “Like, that’s not — if you’re in the room, it’s very obvious that players are not dictating the future of golf and the PGA Tour. Like, you need to have everyone’s perspective on both sides of it, and everyone that’s involved within [PGA Tour] Enterprises. You have a lot of strategic investors that know a heck of a lot more than any of us players.”

“So that’s a false narrative that the players are determining all these things. That’s not even what Jimmy [Dunne] was saying. Jimmy was saying more of the balance of things, and I think that balance is being restored.”

Jimmy likely found himself irrelevant with John Henry and those big-hitters on board, but quite the tortured evasions from both Tiger and Jordan.  But it's all just about balance, because Jordan wouldn't lie to us.... 

Scenes From Valhalla - Elvis is in the building:

After answering questions for the better part of April on the pending birth of his first child,

Scottie Scheffler officially became a father. He and wife have Meredith welcomed son Bennett to the world last week.

“It’s a pretty amazing feeling,” Scheffler told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. “It was fun times at the Scheffler home, for sure.”

The world No. 1 won the Masters and RBC Heritage back-to-back in April before shutting it down and heading home to Dallas as to await the birth of their first child. While Scheffler hasn’t announced publicly the date of the birth, he was on site at Valhalla Golf Club on Monday just as PGA Championship week is getting underway with a field of 156 golfers gathering for the season’s second major.

Good for them and he'll have the full week to prepare (though much of that might be indoors. It's passing strange that we don't have a name or date of birth, but good to see Nike getting their money's worth.

Everybody Talks About The Weather...- But someone really needs to do something about this ne:

Except for Rory, who likes things on the soft side.   I'll just add that the Sunday forecast is perfect, so they might be playing 54 holes that day.

Himself - Shack's Tiger notes:

• Tiger Woods played the back nine early and appeared in good form. As with recent majors he shows no signs of mailing in his preparation. Woods appeared to have his old Valhalla notes and hit most putts one-handed as he consulted his paperwork.

• Woods is using the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS putter he first put in play in 1999 and the putter for 14 of 15 major wins. He asked a couple of us watching the round how many players in the field are younger than his putter. I’m still researching this vital factoid.

• Woods stopped behind the 18th green to sign autographs for almost ten minutes. He even squatted down to pose for a few photos and that’s not normally his style. So I’d say he’s in good spirits.

• Woods is scheduled to meet with the media Tuesday at noon ET.

Glad he's in good humor, but this place is a bit of a long walk.  Let's see how the humor is on Saturday.....

Geoff's Notebook -  First, a busier Monday than usual, due to the above forecast:

Last year on PGA Championship Monday, Rochester fans kept asking where all the golfers were?

I explained how most players like to take it nine holes at a time, prioritize manage rest, and let

“teams” do a lot of the course strategy work.

“But it’s a major!”

I’d just shrug and acknowledge their viewing pain.

Monday at Valhalla provided an entirely different story. With an ominous forecast for most of Tuesday, the course looked like most of America’s tee-sheet-full courses: groups on every hole. One key difference: most courses are devoid of flunky entourages out helping the rugged individualists unlock Valahalla’s secrets.

It’s a burgeoning modern tradition unlike any other: more people inside the ropes than outside.

These reports keep whispering "Rory":

What did they see? A huge golf course still drying out from 2.23 inches of rain last week. Add on the new zoysia fairways and surrounds that give off a cushioned sensibility, and players should be ready to hit plenty of drivers while firing at greens holding their glorified Top Flites. Even with a surprising amount of poa in the surfaces, it should not affect putts. The ball is rolling beautifully and superintendent John Ballard’s team has the place in perfect shape.

Everything else looks like a traditional Kerry Haigh PGA Championship course setup, including:

• Fairways narrowed somewhere between 26-28 yards wide.

• Rough recently topped off around 3 inches that seems unlikely to get more mowing, meaning a healthy 4 inches by week’s end.

• A second rough height outside the ropes has once again been allowed to, well, prosper! While most of it will be mashed down by spectators, players are going to find some occasional (nasty) hack-out lies far off the fairways.

• If you are coming here to spectate please watch out. There are plenty of bad steps out in the tall stuff and undoubtedly a few burrowing animal hole rulings in our future.

More than 2" of rain before that dreadful Tuesday-Saturday forecast, leaving me happy that I don't have plans for Monday.

Geoff shows some begrudging respect for a venue purists love to hate:

Just in case we have a boring 10-shot runaway winner, I thought I’d explore what has made Valhalla work so well as a tournament venue. I’m happy to hear dissenting views, but after Monday’s re-acclimation, I’ve whittled it down to vibe, freedom to hit all shots, plenty of drivers and Louisville fans.

This 1986 Nicklaus design came on the major scene just ten years after opening. that alone turned much of the golf world against it—guilty as charged here—because it became the PGA of America’s latest nepo-baby venue. Soon after opening teh PGA of America took an ownership stake—since relinquished—in the latest twist that might explain why this week could be the last for a while.

Scheduling also fueled a negative perception. In the old August date, Valhalla majors finished off the Grand Slam season in summer heat and after the other majors visited stalwarts: 1996’s Oakland Hills and Royal Lytham, 2000s Pebble Beach and St Andrews in 2000, and 2014’s Pinehurst and Hoylake.

OK, suddenly Lytham and Hoylake are top drawer stuff?  But it's that 2000 version that jumps out, because after runaway wins at Pebble (15 shots) and the Old Course (8 shots), he had to fight off a journeyman at Valhalla.  Hard to explain, except that maybe by then the other guys had put their Pro-V1's into play?

Then there is the scale and look of the place. On many front nine holes the land is gentle and idyllic (other than the high power lines). It plays through woodlands, along and over creeks, and even a rocky stretch adding another element of character. It’s overshaped in places with needless mounding and other rolly-polly excess that was popular in the 1980s. But it also has some wonderfully understated greens with gentle tilts accentuated in difficulty by uneven fairway stances.

Then there is the scale of it: Valhalla is built over 450 acres. It features some huge climbs yet manages to put the pieces together well enough to make the walk fairly seamless.

“It’s a big test,” says CBS’s Dottie Pepper, who has covered multiple events here.

Huge climbs?  I know they can use their lasers, are they giving them carts as well?  If not, I don't much like HIS chances....

Big rarely translates to producing fun golf to watch. The best tournament venues are on a more

intimate scale for players and fans. They should have clusters of holes where roars reverberate, where players can feed off the energy or where decisions are made based on seeing what competitors are doing nearby (think 16 and 17 at TPC Sawgrass).

Valhalla offsets its spread-out nature with multiple amphitheater settings which have produced some of the loudest Ryder Cup and PGA Championship roars this century. I was reminded again on Monday just how many greens sit in bowl settings:

“You’ve got elevation changes which I think add to it,” says Pepper of the routing. “You’re coming up to the peak at No. 9. You’ve got a really cool first hole that has a great arena the way they build it out and there’s such great natural noise there.”

Even the island green at the 13th can be seen by fans from many different vantage points.

As anyone who remembers Tiger’s seesaw playoff battle with Bob May, many loud moments happened because of Valhalla’s natural amphitheaters. Like a great music hall where a band hears themselves well and the acoustics only heighten the music’s power for both audience and performer, Valhalla is a warm room. Throw in passionate Louisville fans happy to see the brats, and fan energy has carried it through several wet and weird tournament days. Valhalla achieves the same sensation many TPC courses hoped to create and that so few outside of Scottsdale and Sawgrass manage to capture.

That's the 16th green pictured above.  But this might be the larger point:

There is also the undeniable but unquantifiable idea that players are free to hit driver here. For all the hill climbing and trouble, players feel encouraged to attack. And attacking golf is way more fun than plodding.

“There’s a sense of drama building,” says Pepper. “You’ve got a pretty tough par-4 (17th) getting to that par-5 finishing hole. You definitely have excitement with the par-5 finishing hole.”

Curiously, the 18th has one of Valhalla’s less-comfortable tee shots. It’s elevated, bends left-to-right, and has water down the right. It’s big and open, which may not be comforting. But that peculiar sensibility has also fueled some of the final hole zaniness.

Which water Rory almost found off the tee in his haste to finish in 2014.

The ability to hit driver is another reason that Rory will likely never find an opportunity to get No. 5 that suits him better than this weeks combination of course and conditions.  Though that puts the lad under a wee bit of pressure....

But talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations:

The par 3s, while disappointingly all 190 and up to 250, at least play in different directions. They are interesting enough without overtaking the rest of the course as the Postage Stamp or Island 17th at Sawgrass do (in their charming way).

OK, admittedly that's something that the architect of Fairview Country Club didn't factor in, but it's a quite the low bar in golf architecture.

Many purists have long struggled to understand the relationship between great architecture and elite professional golf, an awkward pairing in many circumstances.   In this case there's no pretense of top level design, but the ballpark has produced entertaining events with top level winners and contenders, though you might want to stick with the big-hitters this week.  

Fun, Avoided - Ironically, I still have this browser tab open:

Transgender golfer hits out after tour ban

Hailey Davidson has taken to social media to express their disappointment after being banned

with immediate effect from playing on the NXXT Golf Tour.

Davidson made headlines in January after becoming the first transgender golfer to win on the circuit, formerly the East Coast Women’s Pro Golf Tour.

The Scots-born pro’s win at the Mission Inn Resort and Club moved them to the top of the NXXT Tour standings.

It also prompted a widespread backlash from the likes of Piers Morgan, Olympic silver medallist Sharron Davies and Caitlyn Jenner.

In response, NXXT Tour officials requested Davidson undergo additional testosterone testing to “ensure compliance with the appropriate guidelines”, whilst also polling players to gather their opinions on the circuit’s gender policy.

Which is why this item caught my eye:

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson missed qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open on Monday by one stroke. Davidson finished in a three-way tie for third in the 36-hole qualifier at Bradenton (Fla.) Country Club with rounds of 70-73, emerging as the first alternate from the event. She tied two-time LPGA Tour winner Jasmine Suwannapura and Louis Olsson Campbell of Sweden. Suwannapura is the second alternate.

Only the top two players advanced from the 58-player field. Amateurs Amelie Zalsman from St. Petersburg, Fla., and Pimpisa Sisutham of Thailand claimed the two spots available to compete at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club later this month. Zalsman medaled at one-under 141 with a 66-75, while Sisutham carded a 68-74 to take second place at even par.

I have more sympathy here than it may seem, though I also know one thing that others seem determined to ignore.  To wit, if you want women's sports to be a thing, you better ensure that it's for women.   Harsh, but necessary.

That's it for today, as I await word on whether the Wednesday Game™ is a go.  I'll catch up with you down the road.