Weekend Wrap - Ohtani v. Judge Edition

You can tell from the header where my mind has been.  Excited to have my Yankees back in the Series for the first time since the Carter Administration, although there's a price to be paid.  We'll never be rid of Cashman now, Dammit!

There's precious little going on in the golf world, so I won't be keeping you long...

The Postman Rings Twice - Alternatively, I could have titled this Scenes From the Class Struggle:

The eminently likeable and unequivocally popular J.T. Poston probably isn’t quite as well-liked among his PGA Tour peers after the very selfish act he perpetrated Sunday in Las Vegas.

In a proverbial rich-get-richer development that seemed appropriate in the Nevada desert, Poston arrived at the $7 million Shriners Children’s Open playing with house money and went on to cash in big, collecting his third career PGA Tour title with a nervy one-stroke victory over stubborn Doug Ghim. After leading by as many as four strokes on the inward nine at TPC Summerlin, Poston needed to coax in a four-foot par putt on the final green to collect $1.26 million and a few angry stares.

Poston, you see, was one of nine players in the field who finished among the top 50 during the FedEx Cup regular season. That means he is guaranteed starts in all of the tour’s 2025 signature events, so heading out west for his first start since the BMW Championship was a chance to add a little gravy to a season that wasn’t exactly a feast but also didn’t leave him hungry. Well, he went whole hog, and the win added further delights to his 2025 plate in the form of berths in the Masters and the Sentry.

Not sure Jay wants you reminding folks of how weak this field was.

A couple of bits caught my eye from this event.  First, while I had exactly zero interest in the event, I do regret not watching Friday's survival test:

50-mph winds! No fans! A 5-putt! Friday at the Shriners in Las Vegas was no ordinary PGA Tour round

Eventually, the golfers teed off, but it was a different sort of game that they were playing compared to the usually “fire-at-the-flag, throw-caution-to-the-wind (no pun intended)” style that has made winning scores at the Shriners rest comfortably in the 20-under (or lower) range for years. Players had to think they’re way around the course and recalibrate in their minds what were good shots and scores compared to normal.

“Yeah, it was probably a test of patience,” said Doug Ghim, who shot a seven-under 64 to sit three off the opening-round lead on Thursday then posted a one-under 70 on Friday as part of the second threesome off the 10th tee. “It usually is when it gets that windy. I think the toughest part was trying to figure out when we were going to play. I think I was in the fitness trailer at 5 this morning. You can’t really be caught off guard and expect to be a delay and not be ready.”

The most sinister moment? It might belong to Joseph Bramlett, a journeyman pro ranked 146th in the FedEx Cup points standings trying to scramble for some kind of PGA Tour status in 2025. The 36-year-old shot an opening 64 on Thursday to put himself three off the lead put posted a 75 on Friday that include a five-putt on the par-4 first hole after hitting his approach shot to 10 feet, 5 inches.

The only thing that would make this a better story is if, after the 5-jack, Bramlett did a Seve impression.... IYKYK.

That's good fun, but this bit I won't allow to stay in Vegas.  Remember my bit about evolving to hate all of these guys?  Are there no minimal standards of behavior?  Do these players not owe anything to the fans or their fellow players?

Here's where this starts:

There are tough starts to tournaments, then there are Joel Dahmen’s first two holes Thursday at

the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.

It’s quite simple really. He started the round with 15 clubs in his bag. The infraction was discovered when he was on the fourth tee.

Rule 4.1b in the Rules of Golf states that a player must not start a round with more than 14 clubs or have more than 14 clubs at any point during the round.

The catch? The player is slapped with a two-stroke penalty for each hole played with the extra club, but there is only a maximum of four penalty strokes that can be added. That’s why Dahmen was given two shots on the first hole, two on the second and none on the third before noticing he had too many on the fourth.

Alas, Ian Woosnam was unavailable for comment.

Any guesses where this ends?

Joel Dahmen withdrew before the start of the second round at the Shriners Children's Open on Friday, one day after absorbing a four-stroke penalty for carrying an extra club.

Dahmen, 36, was sitting in 131st place out of 132 players at 5-over-par entering the wind-delayed second round at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.

The situation could impact Dahmen's playing status for next year. He is currently No. 124 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, and the top 125 players at the end of the fall circuit will retain full status on tour for 2025.

Really?  It was too much trouble to show up Friday?

Why does the Tour allow this?  He's not even pretending to have an injury, he's just got a sad on.  He's leaving the two guys he was paired with in a horrible spot, and he's displaying his middle finder to the nice folks at Shriners, and apparently Jay, Tiger and Cantlay are all perfectly fine with this behavior.

With all the nonsense we hear about fans needing to know when the best players will play, is there any concern for sponsors that guys that sign up will actually show?  Should we talk about that first alternate that didn't get into the field because Joel thought he wanted to play.  Yanno, until it got tough.... Here's the thing, Jay, I no longer much care when any of these guys will p[lay, so good work there.

Ryder Cup Pile-Ons - The Tour Confidential panel took their crack at those ticket prices, though there's precious little more to say:

A week after the 2025 Ryder Cup captains, Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald, visited New York City for a “Year Out” media blitz, the Ryder Cup made headlines again this week, this time for what it will cost fans to attend. Tickets for the event, which will be conducted at the Black Course at Bethpage State Park, will run about $250 for practice rounds; $420 for the celebrity matches and the opening ceremony; and a whopping $750 for each of the three competition days — fees that have ignited outrage on social media. By way of explanation to our Sean Zak, the Ryder Cup’s championship director, Bryan Karns, said, “The general price is I think just indicative of (a) this market, (b) where we position ourselves, where we feel like we are [in the greater sports landscape], and then the demand.” What’s your take on the pricey rates?

Alan Bastable: Two things can be true at once: the PGA of America is simply charging what fans (or enough fans, anyway) will be willing to pay, so can you really fault them for cashing in? But

the organization also is willfully alienating a large swath of the golf-following populous by pricing them out. Compounding the awkwardness is (a) the players don’t get paid to play so surely some of those savings should be paid forward to fans, and (b) this edition of the event isn’t at some swank resort course — it’s at the country’s most famous muni, where weekday rates for state residents are only 70 bucks, and which has been the site of two so-called “People’s (U.S.) Opens.” The 2025 Ryder Cup’s exorbitant admission fee just feels incongruous to Bethpage’s DNA. Call it the Corporate Cup.

Jessica Marksbury: Well said, Alan. Some tiered pricing would have been appreciated. Seems like there could have been an opportunity to offer a percentage of tickets by lottery at a more affordable price, and let the rest of them go sky-high to buyers with more disposable income. It’s a weird one, because as you mentioned, this is coming from an organization in which the mission is promoting and growing the game. But those initiatives cost money, and it has to come from somewhere!

Dylan Dethier: Jess, maybe you should take up a side gig as PGA of America consultant? This feels like the correct answer — at least give people some sort of chance to get in the gates for a couple hundred bucks before you raise prices for the rest of ‘em.

I wish I had a hotter take to share on this subject. On the one hand I think it stinks that there’s no way around a $750 ticket. On the other hand I guess I’d rather the PGA of America get that money than secondary sellers finding a market? It’s cool that the Ryder Cup has become such a hot ticket. But also — manage your expectations if you do end up going. It’s a great way to spend a day, the atmosphere rocks and team match play is the best. But it’s also tough to see every shot; you’ve gotta get comfortable with the idea that you’ll miss a lot, or watch it on a screen. So yeah, Alan, a bunch of things can be true at once…

I've been critical of Jess over the years for sophomoric commentary, but here she makes me realize what's missing.  I don't if her lottery idea if the perfect solution, but what we'd expect to see is them gouge the blue bloods in hospitality tents and private facilities, yet keep a reasonably-priced option for the masses.  The PGA of America has just decided that everyone will pay the GNP of a Central American country, and we'll see how that works out...

My fixation is that for two of the three days they're not actually in a position to deliver much golf to their spectators, a factor one thinks folks will wake up to at some point.

Here's their take on the Super Bowl issue:

Do you suspect the steep ticket prices will have any impact on the overall vibe of the event?

Bastable: I hope not! For as long as the Bethpage Ryder Cup has been on the calendar, I think we’ve all been looking forward to rowdy, wisecracking New Yawkers descending on the property and charging up what already is a hyper-charged event. I expect the place to be rocking no matter who fills the seats, even if some spectators are sipping not from plastic cups but crystal flutes.

Marksbury: I agree. As long as those seats are filled — and they will be! — the atmosphere will be incredible. Now, the U.S. just has to win…

Dethier: I have a feeling the rowdy fellas will find their way in regardless. This isn’t LACC, where the members got first crack at ticket-buying. I suspect these will still be bought by the good people of Long Island, who will just wince a little harder at checkout than they’d like.

I don't really think we need to worry about the U.S. winning, though it's fun to think about how the crowd might turn on them were they to lay an egg...  

I think they're right that the seats will be filled and the crowd will be rowdy, though would you pay $750 for a general admission pass?  Knowing that you have no guaranteed seat or spot from which to watch the play?  Knowing that you'll have to be there at zero-dark-thirty and sprint to grab a grandstand seat from Joe Sixpack?  Stay tuned.

Eamon Lynch, fresh off a similar suggestion for the Prez Cup, offers a suggestion that will have heads exploding:

How organizers arrived at $749 is neither clear nor relevant. They obviously believe the market

will support it, and they’ll be proved correct. The Ryder Cup will sell out, but then so did last year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, when too many tickets went to club members who preferred to sit in suites and rattle their jewelry than to cheer on the rope line. The PGA of America runs on a four-year budget cycle funded by proceeds from domestic Ryder Cups, so the revenue generated at Bethpage is crucial to bridge the organization until Hazeltine in ’29.

Of course, there’s a way for the PGA of America to more comfortably underwrite operations, fund championships and devote greater resources to the education and employment goals of its members: it could sell the Ryder Cup.

Regardless of the fact that the last five Cups have been decidedly short on drama and close finishes, the event will never be more valuable than it is at this moment, when private equity is circling the sport’s biggest assets. There are compelling reasons why the PGA of America should cash in with a sale, beyond no longer having to indulge gripes about ticket prices.

An amusing concept, though most of us will know little about the underlying legal status of this event, specifically the commitment of the PGA Tour to deliver the talent (which comes out of the separation of the Tour from the PGA of America back in the 1960's).   The point being, as Eamon acknowledges, that there's only the one potential buyer:

Given the division and evident erosion of the audience for men’s professional golf, the media rights landscape could be unfavorable when the Ryder Cup broadcast deal expires in 2031. The day could also be near when players make their move — demanding not just payment for participating, but an ownership stake. Why assume their power grab ends with the PGA Tour when other organizations also profit off their work? The argument about representing one’s country will be no governor since players have air cover on that with the Olympics and Presidents Cup. Which points to the most obvious buyer of a Ryder Cup: the players themselves, through the vehicle of PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit entity now flush with private investment cash.

I'm sure Yasir would buy it....  

I think the oddest element of this piece is that it deals with the Ryder Cup, and I get that that's the news peg, but ignores the PGA Championship.  It's an odd historical relic that this organization runs those two professional events, but Eamon I think misses the essential point about the nature of the PGA of America:

In defending ticket prices to reporter Sean Zak, the Ryder Cup championship director, Bryan Karns, said that his lens is helping the PGA of America’s 30,000 members grow the game on the front lines. That noble mission would be made easier with a substantial endowment generated by a sale rather than being cobbled together every four years, and it wouldn’t be hostage to a volatile market or a pandemic, as happened with the last Cup held in the U.S.

Given the troubled state of men’s golf, a raft of tough decisions awaits whoever takes over as CEO of the PGA of America (Seth Waugh stepped down in June and a successor has not yet been named). How best to future-proof the association’s ability to serve its members and mission will be a high priority. Perhaps the next leader can persuade colleagues that a clear path to safeguarding the next century is to exploit this moment and sell what was built over the last century.

Eamon, you ignorant slut....They all pay lip service to serving those 30,000 teaching professionals, but shall we ask ourselves a question?  Would Seth Waugh have taken the gig if they didn't own those two professional events?  What Eamon elides is that the leadership of the PGA of America hasn't given a whit for their members since those two organizations split up.  The PGA of America's status as one of golf's five families is utterly dependent on their control of two professional evets, and they will not allow their 30,000 member to get in the way of Seth's invite to Augusta.

Speaking Of Augusta... - I'm going to post a couple of his pictures, but you can give Geoff a read if you want more detail.  As we know, Helene did a number on ANGC, and props to them for keeping the focus on the wider community.  The reason the story is only mildly interesting is that, with six months and unlimited resources to put Humpty-Dumpty back together, there's no actual uncertainty as to what things will look like in April.  Spoiler alert, the place will be perfect.

So, first, a before and after of the 16th green:

And a similar take on the clean-up required in Aisle 4 the 9th fairway:

Quite the mess, but it'll be like i never happened.

That's it for today.  Catch you later in the week....