Your Friday Frisson - Bye, Bye Lexi Edition

That wedding hangover had legs..... But we'll gradually work our way back into the grind....

The Ladies Open - The word you're searching for is septuple, as in septuple bogey:

On Thursday at Lancaster C.C., players battled a golf course whose setup would have tested any professional field. Like all the great U.S. Opens of old, the wind was whipping, the ground was calcified, and the scores went skyrocketing. After Thursday, the number of bogeys-or-worse had

more than tripled the number of birdies. And after Thursday, the number of under-par players on supposedly the easiest of the four tournament days sat at just three.

We knew this week would be hard. In Gee Chun won the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster C.C. with a score of 8 under, and for most of the week the leaderboard’s top 10 players were the only ones with a score under par. As the week started, player after player stepped to the podium to share the same perspective: the golf course was hard, it was easy to make mistakes, it was a classic U.S. Open test.

But we didn’t know it would be this hard. Rose Zhang hitting the green with an approach shot and spinning it 15 yards back into the water-hard. Lexi Thompson needing three chips to land her ball on the 10th green-hard. Nelly Korda putting three in the water and making a 10 — a ten!!! — hard. By the end of the day, the scoring average at Lancaster had crept north of five over par, and the players were equal parts dejected and demoralized.

“I knew it as soon as I walked out of the hotel,” said Andrea Lee, the low player from the morning wave. “It was gusting pretty good, even in the morning when I thought it was going to be a little bit calmer compared to the afternoon.”

Lee arrived at the course to find the wind not gusting but outright galing at times, spewing pollen into the air and all manner of golf shots into unfortunate places.

“I just knew it was going to be a grind out there,” Lee said. “I mean, this golf course is such a test. It’s a beast of a golf course, really, and par’s a really good score out here.”

It was brutal, but leaves us with something to savor this afternoon, to wit, the best player on the planet will have to grind to stay around for the weekend.

This was an interesting take, though:

Nelly Korda’s disastrous major start reveals striking flaw in her game

Hmmmm, do tell:

With long holes, thick rough, elevated greens and baked-out fairways, Lancaster Country Club promised to be a proper U.S. Open test. Only the best of the best would be able to survive 72 holes. And in 2024, no one has been better than Korda.

That the golf world at large was so bullish on Korda’s chances was not incorrect in a vacuum. But

when looking at the world No. 1’s career in the national championship — and in other LPGA events — it gives reason for some pause.

USGA events have long been known for their excruciatingly difficult setups and exacting tests. Over the past five years, all but one U.S. Women’s Open champion has finished single-digits under par, and there have been just four champs double digits under par since the turn of the century.

Why does this matter? Well, Korda has found much more success on setups that are much more birdie-friendly, where par is seen not as the goal but as a missed chance to go deeper under par. This is the opposite of the U.S. Open ethos. In the grind-it-out, survival test that is put on by the annually by the USGA, par is always your friend.

In all but two of Korda’s LPGA wins (including her two major titles), her winning score has been double digits under par. In another event, she was nine under, while the other win came in the match-play format. Korda has never won when she’s been forced to grind it out, make pars and outlast the field.

Looking at her U.S. Women’s Open track record, this theme holds true. In her nine previous starts, she’s finished inside the top 10 just twice — in 2018 and 2022. In both those years, the winner finished double digits under par, with Shoal Creek and Pine Needles playing as two of the easiest U.S. Women’s Opens in recent memory.

In other words, when the setups have been at their toughest, Korda has not found much success. That theme continued Thursday at Lancaster Country Club.

Exactly opposite of what you'd expect, given that she has so much more game than her peers.  Not sure there's an explanation, but it's not like they see many challenging venues in the course of the year.

Lexi In Autumn - She's been a frequent punching bag for this blog, a case where potential and hype wasn't matched by actual performance, but we also know how brutal this game can be.  And this story, as Lexi herself notes, comes on the heels of another more tragic one in our game, both attesting to the challenges involved.

And one always hears this about Lexi, so props to her:

“Lexi! LEXI!!!” they yelled, one after the next, a never-ending stream of souvenir flags and selfie requests testing the limits of the ropeline, little arms poking through like little bayonets, each

pointed square at Thompson’s chest. Every autograph signed and photo taken spawned another three, and before long the crowd began to feel less like a group of individuals and more like a steadily growing, amorphous blob of wanting. But it did not matter. For a few moments, Lexi wanted, too — not the crowd’s attention or admiration, but to break the bubble between her world and theirs.

And so she did.

If there is a way the crowds will remember Thompson, it is for her patience. Patience that has allowed her to host thousands of autograph sessions like this one throughout a 17-year competitive career, which she announced Tuesday will conclude at end of this season. Patience that has allowed her to connect with tens of thousands of people outside of the ropes, many of them young women, with a small gesture of goodwill. And patience that has allowed her to do all of these things even in the wake of some of the golf world’s most unimaginable lows — lows that she addressed for the first time during a press conference announcing her retirement on U.S. Women’s Open Tuesday.

But her comments hint at the toll:

“Being out here can be a lot,” she said through tears. “It can be lonely. Sorry if I get emotional. I said I wasn’t going to.”

“I just think, especially with what’s happened in golf, as of recently, too, a lot of people don’t realize what we go through as a professional athlete,” Thompson said. “I’ll be the last one to say, throw me a pity party. That’s the last thing I want. We’re doing what we love. We’re trying the best every single day. You know, we’re not perfect. We’re humans. Words hurt. It’s hard to overcome sometimes.”

Lexi’s humanity has never been cause for debate; the examples of her flawed brilliance are too many to count. There were the back-nine collapses at the ’21 U.S. Open at Olympic and the ’22 Women’s PGA, the lengthy leave of absence at the height of her powers for reasons related to mental health, and who could forget the TV-viewer controversy at the 2017 ANA Inspiration that cost her the tournament, later altering the rules of golf?

But humanity also comes at a price. For all her affection among the fans, Lexi has had an embattled relationship with the public. She has earned a reputation among the press for avoiding questions after her biggest setbacks, and even Tuesday’s retirement “letter” featured a reference to what she called an “unfair” career. While her biggest moments have revealed her to be fallible, her quiet moments have led some to accuse her of being fragile, or worse, lacking accountability. On Tuesday, though, Thompson’s retirement presser featured none of those qualities.

We'll see how it pans out, but my guess is that we'll still see a bit of her, maybe more than she thinks at this juncture.  Retirement isn't for everybody, especially at age 29.  She's always been a prisoner of expectations, so perhaps walking away from it might free her up when she does peg it.  The issue would be status, although she'd have no issues with sponsor exemptions any time she wanted.  But are there sponsor exemptions into the majors?  I guess we'll find out soon enough.

The Scheffler Redemption - Didn't see this coming (we kid):

The criminal charges against Scottie Scheffler stemming from a traffic incident May 17 at the

PGA Championship have been dropped.

Jefferson County attorney Mike O'Connell addressed the court on Wednesday.

"Therefore, based on the totality of the evidence, my office cannot move forward in the prosecution of the charges filed against Mr. Scheffler," O'Connell said. "Mr. Scheffler’s characterization that this was ‘a big misunderstanding’ is corroborated by the evidence. The evidence that we reviewed supports the conclusion that detective [Bryan] Gillis was concerned for public safety at the scene when he initiated contact with Mr. Scheffler. However, Mr Scheffler’s actions and the evidence surrounding their exchange during this misunderstanding do not satisfy the elements of any criminal offenses. For these reasons, I now tender to the courts a motion and order to dismiss all these charges in this case against Mr. Scheffler with prejudice."

I had been asking whether there were any adults in Louisville, and now we have an answer.  There are, but only in the DA's office.  To some extent this is how it's supposed to work, but in this case it feels like the Police Department was supporting its officer, which might be appropriate in other circumstances, but here just perpetuated a case that had no merit.

But about that officer....  Not only did he not turn on his body cam as required, but he seems to be not the sharpest knife in the drawer:

Cop who arrested Scottie Scheffler issues all-time statement about his 'freaking $80 pants' after charges get dropped

Gillis, who was disciplined for not turning on his body cam, maintains he was well within his right to arrest Scheffler and that he was "drug" by Scheffler's car. That being said, he commends the World No. 1 for how he handled the ordeal and echoed the golfer's statement that there is "no ill will" as both men look to put the matter behind them. They also both offered their condolences to the family of the man who tragically passed away in a shuttle bus accident that chaotic morning of May 17 ahead of the second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Again, pretty standard. But then Gillis offered this postscript about his pants. The ones that were described as costing $80 and being "damaged beyond repair" in the original police report. Again, it's real. And it's spectacular.

“P.S...Yes, the department has us buying freaking $80 pants. To those concerned, they were indeed ruined. But Scottie, it’s all good. I never would’ve guessed I’d have the most famous pair of pants in the country for a few weeks because of this. Take care and be safe.”

Amazing. Also amazing that a police officer has to buy his own uniform pants? For $80?! That's like Banana Republic prices! And not Banana Republic Factory! I'd be furious if I had a nice pair like that ruined.

Pretty weird, as is his use of the word "drug":

The recognized and correct past tense form of the verb drag is dragged. Drug can still sometimes be heard, but only in certain dialects within the United States.

Perhaps this is why he and Scottie miscommunicated, as they were speaking in different dialects.

Tigermania -  Nope, not THAT Tiger, but rather the conclusion of the NCAA's:

Auburn's golfer of destiny leads Tigers to their first national title

A story was making the rounds on Wednesday evening about the meeting J.M. Butler, then a high school senior, had with Auburn men’s golf coach Nick Clinard in his office. The recruit from

Louisville, Ky., said very passionately that he wanted to win a national championship in his college career. It didn’t matter that he’d be coming to a Tigers program that had never reached the summit.

It made for a tidy full-circle tale when Butler, a senior, secured the winning point on Wednesday as top-ranked Auburn did capture its first national title with a tense 3-2 victory over Florida State at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. But there are dozens of junior golfers who walk into a coach’s office and say they want to lift a trophy. It’s what they do to make that happen, and in Butler the Tigers got the player who would see it to the finish.

In drawing Clanton, who entered the tournament ranked eighth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, the 38th-ranked Butler faced an enormous test. And, with the teams trading two wins each in the afternoon’s earlier matches, the focus of about a thousand fans trailing the final twosome was intense.

It's a great event that gets lost in a busy sports calendar this time of year, but the match-play team competition always delivers the goods.

Regrets, I've Had A Few -  Finally, Rory and I find common ground:

Rory McIlroy regrets getting 'deeply involved' in PGA Tour-LIV controversy

And we regret you getting deeply involved as well...

I just picked up on this rumor on Wednesday, but they wouldn't deny it if it were true, would they?

Rory McIlroy only has ‘professional relationship’ with CBS reporter Amanda Balionis

Did he just call Amanda a sex worker?  Who knows, but in the immortal words of Bonnie Raitt, they seem to be giving us something to talk about...

Ryder Cup Mishegoss -  Don't get excited, this isn't what it seems:

U.S. Ryder Cup team creates new team manager position

The U.S. Ryder Cup team has yet to announce a captain for next year's matches at Bethpage

Black. In the meantime, we now know the American squad will have a team manager.

The PGA Ryder Cup Committee announced on Wednesday the creation of a new position that will be filled by former caddie John Wood. And it appears that whoever is the next Team USA captain will have a lot less to worry about.

"Beginning with the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, Wood will work closely with the U.S. team captain, vice captains, team members and PGA of America senior management on all strategic and operational matters related to the U.S. Ryder Cup Team," according to the Ryder Cup's official website.

 Simultaneously, Golfweek has this for us:

If not Tiger Woods, who will captain Team USA at the 2025 Ryder Cup? Here are some contenders

Can you say, "The Usual Suspects"?  I thought you could...

They break down into two groups, those that have lost Ryder Cups and those that have yet to lose Ryder Cups....  OK, I know Strick won his, but how lame is that Task Force that this is the menu of options.

The above story about Woodie actually makes the Tiger captaincy more likely, as it seems to confirm that Tiger is trying to limit the required appearances and promotional nonsense, mostly because he can.

It will be Tiger, for sure, because anything else is inconceivable.  The U.S. simply has to win the home game, so any thought of Tiger waiting for a road game at Adare Manor has to just be talk.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday.