Woe Is Golf - A Continuing Series

Teeth will be gnashed and Garments will be rend....  Prepare the fainting couches....

Before We Get to Nike.... - Have you been in a Golfsmith lately?  If you answered in the affirmative, then this won't surprise you at all:

Golfsmith International, the retailer of golf clothing and equipment, is considering filing

for bankruptcy as it looks for a new owner, according to people with knowledge of the situation. 

Golfsmith hired the investment bank Jefferies LLC to solicit buyers for the roughly 150-store chain, without success so far, said the people, who didn’t want to be identified because the process isn’t public. The company also hired Alvarez & Marsal to help it restructure, according to the people, who said that a sale could come as part of a Chapter 11 filing.

Their stores have an increasingly run-down feel to them, and it's hard to sell that which you don't have in stock....  But big box retailers across the spectrum are struggling, as it's hard to get folks to pay full retail with that Internet out there...

Shack added this:

After a few calls today, I learned Golfsmith's primary issue is with terrible leases and real estate issues involving many of its locations. Bankruptcy would make it easier to get out of such deals or to restructure them.

Again, not a great statement about golf as a business because more robust sales would mask those contracts. But as seen through the constant-growth-or-else lens, it's just one more thing suggesting this is also very much a business issue more than a golf issue.

Geoff's not a business guy, but he gets that right....  Older chains end up with a series of bad leases, usually as much due to the location as the price, but it's hard to absorb those in a no- or low-growth environment.  It's also hard when the largest manufacturer floods the market with three product releases in a given year....

Things That Go Swoosh In the Night - So Alfie, what does it all mean?  Not much, at least to this guy, as at most it confirms that which he already knew:

“I’ve been talking about it all year,” said Casey Alexander, an analyst with Gilford Securities in New York who tracks the golf industry. “Not one time did you see an ad for Nike clubs or Nike golf balls. Not one time… 

“Ten years ago I said this business was going to collapse down to a core four at best – Callaway, Titleist, TaylorMade and Nike. I just got one of the names wrong. It turns out Nike is out and Ping is in. … The effects of this have been happening already in the marketplace. If you’ve been to an Edwin Watts or Golf Galaxy and you look for Nike Golf, you will find the most miserly display of mish-mash equipment imaginable. There’s just nothing there.”

Perhaps... but they were very aggressive in signing additional Tour staff over the winter (Koepka, Finau), and I didn't see any noticeable lag in product releases.   They completely revamped their ball line and actually introduced some interesting putters, so to me it seems this was a recent realization.

Mr. Alexander gets around, this time with Rob Sauerhaft at Golf.com:

Have you seen signs of this day coming?
Four years ago, I had discussions with Nike Golf's then-president Cindy Davis, who told me that they make equipment for the best athletes in the world. Three years ago, she said Nike makes equipment to support their apparel and shoe businesses. Nike has continued to de-emphasize clubs and balls in 2016. 

This ties in to my point from yesterday, that they'll be ceding some shelf space in certain important distribution channels.  But we still don't know to what extent Tour players will be wearing Nike soft goods....

And this:

What'll happen to Tour pros like Tiger, Rory and Michelle Wie who are under

contract to play Nike gear?
I see some beneficiaries to this announcement. Once TaylorMade is sold, they're no longer tied to Adidas footwear and apparel. Callaway has a footwear license deal and they outsource apparel, and they have a flexible interpretation of what’s required of their equipment-contracted players. 

Does Bob Parsons [PXG] care if someone's wearing Nike shoes or apparel? I don't know if PING has a flexible enough interpretation of the world to sign players who serve two masters. Pros that endorse Acushnet [Titleist] clubs are required to be in their apparel and footwear…it wouldn’t surprise me if Tiger plays PXG clubs. I could also see someone play Callaway clubs, Nike apparel and a Titleist ball.

Ummmm....Bubba?  He's raising an interesting issue, though it seems he doesn't know any more about how those contracts are structured than you or I....

Obviously if Tiger wants to continue wearings his TW shoes, as per Steiny's comments, that will limit him to equipment manufacturers that don't have a competing apparel line.  The speculation that Tiger could land in Bob Parson's lap makes sense to me, but I can't imagine that a lot of money would change hands unless and until he demonstrates that he's still competitive....

Rory is a different animal entirely, and he's the equivalent of a value brand these days.... though perhaps a manufacturer without a big position in putters makes more sense?  Cobra perhaps?  Or Wilson?  Those Ricky Barnes commercials have certainly reached their sell-by date....

This seems about right:

The equipment business has held pretty steady over the years in the $4 to $4.5 billion range. Having a 5% market share company get carved up by others doesn’t signal the end. It used to be that there were secondary competitors and tertiary competitors. Now, the secondary competitors are being flushed out. But it’s not a sign of the end of the business.

Flat markets are always a tough fit for public companies, who need to demonstrate growth for their shareholders...   But this is also somewhat misunderstood, as there's been only marginal product innovation recently.  All it would take to jump start hard good sales would be a technological breakthrough on the order of metal woods, hybrids or the Pro-V1....

But the Nike news should be a small positive for the sale of TaylorMade and Acushnet's IPO.  Yes, it's only a small player out of the way, but one with the ability to write rather large checks.  I'm curious to see how those deals move forward, most notably whether adidas can sell TaylorMade/Adams/Ashworth, while retaining the adidas golf business.

Good Neighbors - Iconic Shinnecock Hills has started a bit of a row with it's neighbors, and triggers a bizarre memory:

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, fourth in Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, is attempting to have a section of Tuckahoe Road that bisects its golf course rerouted around the course, a quest that apparently isn’t going over well in the community.

The proposal “was met with strong opposition from a standing-room-only crowd of residents at Thursday’s Southampton Town board work session,”Newsday’s Lisa Irizarry wrote. 

The club, which will host the U.S. Open there in 2018, has argued that the road is a safety hazard. “According to [club president] Brett Pickett, in order to play golf at the historic club, players need to cross Tuckahoe Road at least six times, as it divides holes 10, 11, 12 and 13 from the rest of the course,” Jen Newman of the Southampton Press wrote.

Here's what it looks like from the air:

It's actually quite odd, as the tenth hole plays over the road on the drive, and the player must accommodate the traffic flow in his pre-shot routine.

Several years ago, friend of the blog Mark W. was kind enough to arrange a two-day outing there for me, and it was really special.  But on the first afternoon there was a serious car accident in town, which as I recall took down a power line.  Traffic was re-routed onto Tuckahoe Road, and after hitting our drives on the 13th hole, we faced a long second shot over a line of cars....

I know, the only issue was which of us would hit the worm-burner, so we picked up and dropped on the other side of the road....  Just call it a local rule.

As noted in the item, the road will be closed during the 2018 U.S. Open in any event.

The Worth of Free Advice - Michael Bamberger seems to be off his meds, or perhaps he's doing his Michael Shamburger impression, but see what you think of this advice to Pete Bevacqua:

Dear Pete:

You have a great championship. It's the fourth of the four majors in my book, but that's still a nice place to be. That doesn't mean it always will be fourth. It could go up. It could go down. Somehow, to the American public, the Masters replaced the U.S. Open as the game's most important major sometime in the past 20 or 30 years. If NBC does what I think it can do, the network will help elevate the status of the British Open to U.S. audiences in the years to come. Could the British replace the U.S. Open as the No. 2 major for stateside audiences? It could.

No it won't, because of the time difference.  But please go on:

In choosing the courses, I urge you not to worry about whether they are perceived to be USGA courses. In other words, if you want Shinnecock Hills, go for it. The Peter Millar crowd there could only benefit from more contact with the game's working people, and the PGA of America is nothing if not working people. If they don't know that, convince them.

Meanwhile, back here on planet Earth....  So, your suggestions to Make the PGA Great Again involve outbidding the USGA for venues?  Sigh...  And where to start with this?

I'll offer four courses, but these are nothing but suggestions:

1. Montauk Downs: With a total redo of the public course at the end of Long Island, the PGA can remake the place in its own image. 

2. Chicago Golf Club: Yes, it's tiny. Adjust as needed. Smaller field, fewer spectators, more intimate feel. Play the course as it is. Whatever they shoot, they shoot. 

3. Bandon Dunes: Go to the original course. Yes, it's remote. But if you play there, they will come. 

4. Los Angeles Country Club: Let the 2023 U.S. Open, at an old-school gem all spruced up, serve as a preview for how great a PGA there could and would be.

That lede requires a full stop after the word "nothing".  The only one of those remotely capable of hosting a major event is the last, which has, yanno, a major coming.  Unless you see a PGA being held on a 6,500 yard golf course with hickories...

The one interesting suggestion buried in Mike's nonsense is that of moving the date up to be the first major of the season.  Hey, if you insist on going to Atlanta and Kiawah, February makes much more sense than August.  Of course, Commissioner Ratched will be loathe to give up one of his lucrative events....

Wither The Scientist? - Haven't heard much from the lad recently, which isn't good news:

Four months ago, Bryson DeChambeau was the toast of golf. The reigning U.S. Amateur and NCAA individual champion made a splash at the Masters, hovering around the leader board for most of the weekend as an amateur. The following week, the SMU product made his pro debut in style, finishing fourth at the RBC Heritage. These performances -- combined with his cerebral, analytical approach to the game and a unique equipment and wardrobe arsenal -- made DeChambeau a fascinating study. Many around the game wondered: was this the next face of golf? 

While DeChambeau certainly has a promising future, the recent present hasn't been so bright. After Hilton Head, he missed four straight cuts. He had flashes of brilliance at the U.S. Open, leaving Oakmont with a respectable 15th-place finish. However, he's produced nothing of merit since, finishing 64th at the Quicken Loans National and missing the cut at the RBC Canadian Open. He's off to an inauspicious start at TPC River Highlands as well, shooting a two-over 72 on Thursday, eight strokes behind the leaders. 

This is especially problematic for DeChambeau. Barring a miracle Friday round, the Travelers Championship will end his quest for a tour card, forcing the prodigy to achieve membership in alternative routes.

As noted, he can only play in the remaining two Tour events through Monday qualifying.  He is exempt into the Web.com Finals, a series of four events that awards it's own Tour cards.  That would seem to be his last, best hope for avoiding a year of purgatory.  Thanks, Tim.

Thursday Thoughts

We've got a shocker to lead with....

Nike Exits Stage Left - Late yesterday this broke:

Nike is exiting the clubmaking business. 

And Tiger Woods's golf bag is going to have a different look whenever he returns.

In a shocking announcement Wednesday afternoon, the sports equipment and apparel giant said that it intends to refocus its efforts on golf shoes and clothing, and away from clubs, balls and bags. 

It remains unclear how this decision will affect Nike's star-studded roster of golfers, which includes Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Michelle Wie.

Wait, Michelle Wie still plays golf?  Who knew?

It is quite the surprise, give their aggressive winter of signing long-term endorsement contracts, most notable big-boppers Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau.  

Mike Stachura, Equipment Editor at Golf Digest, filled in the background:

Nike, which reported flat to down annual sales in its overall golf business the last two years at just north of $700 million in annual sales (which includes shoes and apparel), has been in the golf business since 1984, but only introduced its first clubs in 2002 with the Pro Combo set of irons. Its sales in 2013 and 2014 were nearly $800 million. 

Today's announcement comes just a few days after the company's 2016 line of clubs was extraordinarily reduced in price. That included $400 Vapor Fly drivers reduced to $150 and $250 Vapor Fly fairway woods to $100.

The company has struggled to become a leading player in the equipment business, with market shares in woods and irons that were routinely one-tenth those of leaders Callaway and TaylorMade.

I'm not sure where they stand contractually with Tiger, but they'll be cutting checks to Rory for quite a few years....

Steve Pike at The A-Position has some harsh words for the Knight-riders:

When Nike Golf got into the equipment business some two decades ago, it was seen as

the 800-pound heavyweight that could stand toe-to-toe with companies such as Acushnet (Titleist), Callaway, Ping and TaylorMade. Turns out the gorilla was a lightweight.

To be blunt, Nike Golf was a disaster in the equipment industry. Anyone who has been watching Nike Golf the past few years shouldn’t be surprised by the corporate decision. Despite being played by top players such as McIlroy and Woods, Nike Golf never created equipment (clubs or balls) that were better – or at least even – with its major competitors. Nike Golf could sell plenty of shirts and caps – in its own line and the Tiger Woods Collection – but simply couldn’t sell equipment. It never seemed to be able to get out of its own way, whether on the creative or marketing sides.

That seems to be kicking them when they're down, as their equipment was fine...  no better, but no worse.  I played their Platinum RZN ball  earlier in the season, and it was comparable to the Pro V1 or Tour Preferred.... It's just a flat market and a large public company has little use for that...

But this from the Stachura piece is the tell:

Said one current Nike staff player, "I really love their equipment, but I'll tell you this: In all the pro-ams I've played, I've never once seen one of my partners using a Nike club."

You don't see a lot of Nike headcovers, do you?

More from Pike:

Nike decision to cut bait on the equipment side comes at an interesting time in the golf industry. adidas Group has been trying for the better part of the past year to sell TaylorMade; and the Acushnet Company, parent of the Titleist and FootJoy brands, is in the midst of preparing for an Initial Public Offering. Nike’s exit from the equipment business likely won’t have any impact on either of those deals, but it likely will be seen as another black eye for a struggling industry.

That is interesting and can't hurt both of those other transactions, though I'll note that they're trying to draw to the same inside straight as Adidas, keeping the higher margin shoe and apparel business.  Both certainly have leverage with the big box retailers, but their ability to get placement in the specialty and pro shop channels is reduced.

As for the guy that put them in the business, well, divorces are hard:

But Woods, for one, will be moving on. Reached by phone, Woods's agent, Mark Steinberg, said he and Tiger were aware this announcement was coming, and that he will begin searching for a new clubmaker for his famous client. 

"Tiger and I have had multiple conversations about what we'd do, and we have an organized plan in place," Steinberg said. "The plan is continued rest and rehabilitation and we'll sort out the equipment thing in due course. I'll be in the process of doing that, effective immediately." 

Steinberg declined to reveal which clubmaker he'd first approach, but added: "He's been a longtime icon of Nike golf and that's not going to change one ounce. He'll remain a loyal and enthusiastic icon of Nike."

He's cashed a lot of big checks.... But who really cares about Tiger, the burning issue is where Kent will go.

Perhaps Nike is exiting because they're no longer the industry's official badass.... that honor goes to PXG, whose founder had this:

Reached by phone Wednesday night, the founder of GoDaddy.com, who launched his own golf company, PXG, in late 2014, said that he has no plans for any quick moves, even as his own phone continues to ring. 

"For now I just don't know what we'll do about potentially signing any new players like Rory or Tiger that might be available, but I can say that within an hour of the announcement we had no less than 30 calls from people who have relationships with Nike Golf," he said in a phone call Wednesday evening. "I think this situation caught a lot of people by surprise, and I'm going to let the golf community digest the news and then see the lay of the land."

I hit the PXG irons late last week, as Kent's buddy Kyle Munoz popped for a set.  They looked and felt great, though there's exactly nothing wrong with my Mizunos....

Spit Out Your Drink Funny -  I've been ranting on this subject since day one of this blog, yet Matt Kuchar just made a point more effectively than my harshest critiques ever will.... Of course, in the process he revealed himself as pretty clueless, but that's a small price for me to pay:

Speaking to the media at TPC River Highlands, Kuch -- one of the four representing the

red, white and blue in the sport's return to the Summer Games -- was asked if he'll be pulling for his fellow American golfers in Brazil. It was the type of question that seemingly would trigger a generic athlete response. Kuchar's answer was anything but. 

"Now, I may be miss-informed or just don't know. You may have to help me. Is there no team format at all?" Kuchar asked the media. "When they first talked about it, if there were four Americans it was the two highest ranked and they were going to combine the scores for a team event." 

A nervous energy ran through the media tent. Was Kuchar being facetious, or was he seriously in the dark on the Olympic format?

The latter, as it turns out...

"There is no combined? No team event whatsoever?" Kuchar continued. "Just an individual. We did the same thing at World Cup: 72 hole stroke play. I played with Kevin Streelman. We never played together but we did represent the United States in a team format. 

"That was my initial impression of what was happening with the Olympics, but I'm incorrect on that." 

ESPN's Jason Sobel helped clarify the situation for Kuchar, remarking, "If Bubba wins you don't get a medal." 

And it's at that point we came to the collective realization: Kuchar legitimately didn't know the Olympic tournament's configuration.

Because he just assumed that the powers that be wouldn't do anything that profoundly stupid.... Thank you, Kooch, I think we're done here.

Young Tommy Morrissey - Move over Peter Jacobson, meet five-year old Tommy Morrissey and enjoy his impressions of famous golf swings...  Oh, and did I mention that it's also one-armed Tommy Morrissey?

OK, maybe this is unfair, what with the missing arm, but I found the Tiger impression wanting without a loud "Fore right".  Yanno, this signature move:

Third Time The Charm? - Here's a question that'll ruin your appetite:

What if the USGA does it again? And by "it," I mean find a way to mar its own 122-year-old championship.

Count on it, baby, as they're on a roll.... 

The subject is Erin Hills, a venue that none of us know what to expect from:

It's a gorgeous, colorful place, a golf course of natural beauty that defies labels.

It's practically treeless and the wind can blow in any direction on the golden fescue-lined fairways, but don't call it links golf: It's not on a coastline, and the best approach shots will soar high and land soft. 

"It's not heathland, it's not parkland, it's not linksland," Andy Ziegler said as he strolled from the 18th tee on a recent morning. "It's what it is. It's Erin Hills."

The course features "islands of fescue", which I'm guessing the players will love.

Shack has opined that Erin Hills will make us all forget Chambers Bay, which I'm guessing isn't meant as a compliment....

First World Problems - Remember our friend Mason Nome?  Of course you do, he's the precocious talent that had the misfortune to post a 66 that feature two A's, an ace and an albatross in the same round....

So, what does that do to one’s handicap index? In Nome’s case, it contributed to moving it nearly a full point in a two-week span. 

On July 15, Nome’s handicap index was +4.6. On Aug. 1, it was +5.4.

I know, boo hoo.  But at least he posted it....

Midweek Musings

Now is the winter of our discontent....OK, it's not actually winter and I go to Utah to avoid the discontent thing, but we have more than eight months before golf that means anything.  With one blessed, three-day exception....

So, let's start with a look at how those rosters shape up, shall we?

Team USA - Through the PGA, here are the top fifteen:

1. Dustin Johnson (11,860)
2. Jordan Spieth (11,179)
3. Phil Mickelson (5,764)
4. Jimmy Walker (5,337)
5. Brooks Koepka (4,688)
6. Zach Johnson (4,297)
7. J.B. Holmes (4,149)
8. Brandt Snedeker (4,086)
9. Bubba Watson (4,008)
10. Patrick Reed (3,999)
11. Matt Kuchar (3,933)
12. Rickie Fowler (3,768)
13. Scott Piercy (3,272)
14. Bill Haas (3,194)
15. William McGirt (2,959)

The top eight as of August 28th automatically qualify, then Captain Love has four Captain's picks.  We'll get to those in a second....

A couple of obvious points.... First, Jimmy Walker was 29th before his week in New Jersey, and Brooks Koepka was, I believe in ninth.  I'm glad I waited until after the PGA to take a look...

Second, notice anything about the gents in slots nine through twelve?  Yes, that's your U.S. Olympic team....Just odd how that worked out....

If the points race ended today and Davis had to make his picks, is there any doubt that those would be the four names?  Along the same lines, are there any doubt that those were te four names Tiger texted to his Captain?

Now, back to those picks... here's the timing:

After the eight automatic qualifiers are announced at the end of this month (ranked 1-8), U.S. captain Davis Love III will select three wild cards on Sept. 11 and one more on Sept. 25 just before the Ryder Cup starts.

That last bit is the Horschel rule, in theory allowing Davis to pick the hot golfer who comes from nowhere to win the Tour Championship.   Though my handy rule of thumb is that if Billy Horschel is the difference-maker, then it's likely the difference between a four and six-point rout.

But my guess is that Davis will ultimately find that added flexibility more of an annoyance than a help, as no matter which of the four he leaves off on September 11th, they're gonna feel dissed.  But mostly I think that current one-through-twelve has a very high probability of being the final roster...  Sneds is the obvious weak link in the top eight, I know, a blinding insight considering he's in eighth.  

Bill Haas may have his supporters, those that over-interpret his President's Cup performance, but I would think that Sneds would have the advantage because of his putting prowess.  

How do I feel about the team?  Well, it's what we have....It's an experienced team, though as previously noted it's mostly experienced in the dark arts of losing Ryder Cups....There's a reasonable prevalence of gamers, guys like Spieth, Zach and Patrick Reed, that you expect to embrace the intensity of the event....But we've all been burned too often in recent years to allow ourselves to get cocky....

Team Europe - As I understand the current state of play, Brexit does not affect the European Ryder Cup team.  I know, if only....

So, the Euros are always a bit more complicated, because of the two separate points systems.  The first four come from the European points list:

1.  Rory McIlroy

2.  Danny Willett

3.  Hennrik Stenson

4.  Chris Wood

Then it's the next five from the World points list, who as of now would be:

5.  Sergio Garcia

6.  Justin Rose

7.  Rafa Cabrello Belo

8.  Any Sullivan

9.  Matthew Fitzpatrick

That doesn't exactly overwhelm one, does it?  With Rory a head case and Danny Willett not hitting on all cylinders, they'll be dependent on a bunch of rookies to step up in a road game.  

Darren Clarke has three picks, presumably from the following listed in order of thier current standing on the World points list:

• Soren Kjeldsen
• Lee Westwood
• Martin Kaymer
• Thornbjorn Olesen
• Tyrrell Hatton
• Shane Lowry
• Francesco Molinari
• Thomas Pieters
• Graeme McDowell

Conventional wisdom says that Clarke will favor experience with his picks, so we shouldn't be surprised to see Westy and Kaymer in Chaska.  But one always hopes to see some encouraging form from the vets, and I'll also note that Kjeldsen is one of the better putters to be found....

Ask me again how I feel about the American team....  It's light years more impressive on paper, which will make the loss that much harder to take.

Walker, Texas Ranger - Alan Shipnuck has an engaging profile of Jimmy Walker's transition from Tour rabbit to....well, we'll see.  First, did you ever wonder at Butch Harmon taking on the journeyman?  I did, but it turns out that Butch had good reason:

In '12, Walker was still winless on the PGA Tour, so he cold-called Butch Harmon, swing guru to the stars. When Harmon failed to respond, Erin dashed off a pithy text message: "Look, you don't know me, I'm Jimmy Walker's wife. If you don't want to work for him, just say so. We need to move on." She adds, "He got back to me, like, five minutes later. He said, ‘Sorry, I've been busy.'"

Good call, Butch.  Hell hath no fury..... Though this might have been the missing piece:

A month ago he began working with Julie Elion, Mickelson's former sports psychologist. (Jimmy and Phil are frequent practice-round foils.) At Baltusrol part of the plan was for Walker to carry himself with more cowboy swagger. When a reporter noted during the champion's press conference that he had seemed surprisingly calm during the tense finish, Walker said, "That's huge, because that's what I was going for."

He played very much under control, but of course that doesn't mean he'll always do so under similar conditions.  This is Alan's takeaway:

On Sunday night Walker did call Rickie Fowler "podner," a reference to their four matches together at the Ryder Cup. If the U.S. this fall is going to win the Cup for only the second time this century, the late-blooming Walker will have to play a key role. Fowler and Spieth have had indifferent 2016 campaigns, and at 46, Mickelson will soon be riding into the sunset. Walker displayed a flair for team-building at the 2015 Presidents Cup, giving his teammates REAGAN-BUSH 1984 T-shirts. (Zach Johnson still proudly dons his.)

That Walker-Fowler pairing wasn't particularly successful, so forgive my indifference to the rose-tinted memories.  But am I the only one that doesn't get the significance of the Reagan-Bush swag?  Morning in America and all, but still?

Wither Rory - The lad from Holywood is quite the hot mess these days...  Most blame his putting, which is fair enough, but his wedge game seems equally to blame.  Of  perhaps greater import, he looks like quite the unhappy camper, and his comments about the Olympics and other matters have displayed quite the unbecoming petulance.

While Rory is justifiably praised for being open and available, we have seen traces of this previously.  Most notably, in the aftermath of a rules violation in Abu Dhabi when he snarked that he has better things to do than read the rules book.  I'd argue not, given that he lost that event by a single shot after incurring a two-stroke penalty for failing to take complete relief from a walking path....  But reasonable people can disagree....

Brian Keough catches up with Paul McGinley on the subject, but first sets our stage:

While McGinley was among the Sky Sports pundits suggesting that McIlroy’s weak putting was not helped by some wayward ball-striking, he insisted that not only have players like Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson overtaken McIlroy, the time has come for the Holywood native to make a few moves and take some big decisions.

Needing a par at worst to make the cut — the mark could have gone to two over — McIlroy left himself just over 200 yards to the par-five finishing 18th but cut his second into a heavy lie in the right, greenside rough and took three more shots to find the green, chopping his first one halfway up a steep bank and the leaving the next short on the fringe before failing to chip in.

He looked very much like he didn't care to hang around for the weekend, and that was immediately after sinking a 35-footer for birdie on the seventeenth.  As Keough notes, it was quite the contrast with Mickelson, who after opening with the disastrous triple dug deep and clawed his way back.

 Here's McGinley's take on Rory's play on the 18th:

"We were initially full of admiration for him at the 18th with Day and Mickelson playing so conservatively, as he took out the driver and ripped it up the middle of the fairway.The hard work was done for McIlroy on that hole and he knew that.

"He got a bad lie after his second, which was unfortunate, but then he really should have chopped it up to 30 feet and two-putted for par.It seemed to be one mistake after another from there and he ended up with a six, which was a huge blow for him and he'll be absolutely heartbroken by that finish.

I'm sorry, but the evidence for that is what?  McGinley's premise is that younger players have passed Rory by, which is going to happen in this game when you're missing 3-footers....  He's gotta figure something out on the greens, and quick.  As we've discussed previously, I've always thought he was a poor green reader, and I'd like to see him hook up with a looper that can fill that gap.  But he has to be willing to take direction....

The First Rule of Golf Fight Club.... - Here's why you don't want to hit into the group in front of you....you'll have to click through to see the video, but here's a screen shot of impact:

I think the guy in orange is to far  ack on his heels to hold that spine angle through impact....

Be aware that the video includes salty language....definitely NSFW.

Cheap Shots - In which your humble correspondent sensitively responds to those in the news...

Isn't That The Outfit She Wore When DJ Won The Open - Paulina continues to share he rlady parts with us:

Yanno, their son will be on social media in a few years and I'm sure he''ll be very proud....

Yeah, That's the Ticket - PETA UK Suggests Andrew Johnston Go By 'Tofu,' Not 'Beef'

I Had No Trouble Forgetting Most of These - 13 Unforgettable, Dramatic Moments from the '16 Major Season

And how does Paulina's dress, and I use that term in the loosest possible sense, not make the list?

But First, One More Moneygrab - Team USA is ready for the Olympics – but first, the Travelers for Kuchar, Reed and Watson

Just Like I Welcome Zika - Geoff Ogilvy welcomes challenge of keeping his PGA Tour card

Tuesday Tastings

Still in catch-up mode, so without further ado....

Dateline: Milton Keynes - Sounds like a Jeopardy clue, no? One that combines Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes....Hey, maybe they could do a rap video or something.... OK, it was Hayek and it's way off our subject, but if you haven't seen this it's just brilliant:

You have to admit, you'll find the strangest stuff here at Unplayable Lies...

Milton Keynes is the home of Woburn Golf Club, site of this year's Women's British Open:

Ariya Jutanugarn won the Women's British Open on Sunday at Woburn for her first 

This is a nice tradition among the ladies.

major championship and fourth LPGA Tour victory of the year. 

The 20-year-old Thai player closed with an even-par 72 for a three-stroke victory over American Mo Martin and South Korea's Mirim Lee. Jutanugarn finished at 16-under 272 on the Marquess Course, the hilly, forest layout that is a big change from the usual seaside layouts in the tournament rotation. 

Martin, the 2014 winner at Royal Birkdale, shot a 70. Lee had a 73. 

Stacy Lewis was fourth at 11 under after her third straight 70.

 As we've been over previously, Ariya was a child prodigy from Thailand whose career was disrupted by injuries.  Earlier this year, she drop-kicked the Dinah Shore to our Lydia, but then reeled off three straight wins in May.

She's a big-time talent, so long that she frequently does not carry a driver, but also with a short game to match.  It's as if Lexi Thompson and Lydia Ko had a child.... (that's a classical reference to a comment by Jason Day last year).  But I fell hard for Ariya in seeing how she responded to the disappointment at Mission Hills....  After smother-hooking her drive into the water on No. 18, she laid her head on her caddies shoulder and could be seen mouthing the words, "I'm sorry."

Shes' officially arrived with four wins, including the major, and she may well make us forget Inbee...

Dateline: Hayward, CA - There's an event called the Ellie Mae Classic, and count me among those surprise that there's a Web.com Tour event paying homage to the Clampetts of Beverly Hills....Who knew?

The event was won by German Stephan Jaeger:

Jaeger’s final-round 63 handed him a seven-shot win over Rhein Gibson as Jaeger finished with a 30-under 250. The 250 is 72-hole record on the Web.com Tour. 

Jaeger hit 84 percent of fairways and greens on his way to the 30 under, which matched a 72-hole record for the Web.com Tour. In 2004, Daniel Chopra shot 30 under at the Henrico County Open.

A 63 under Sunday pressure is pretty amazing, though it was only his second best round of the week.  He opened the evnt on Thursday with a tidy little 29-29-58.....  It's been my experience that a 58 will rarely hurt you...

The tour did a good job of hyping this on social media:

Shack has more, including video of his final putt, here.

Dateline: Mason Nome - Fooled you there, as Mason Nome is actually the name of a University of Texas Golfer, who matched a rare feat:

That's something that legendary basketball coach John Wooden did as well....

Dateline: Rio - Jeff Ritter tries awfully hard and the result is six alleged reasons to be excited about Olympic Golf:

1. Team USA is going to be a blast. Yes, Jordan Spieth is out, but Bubba is all in. So are Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed. On the women's side, Stacy Lewis, Lexi Thompson and Gerina Piller are threats to medal. And, as a reminder, in Reed's brief history in national team competitions, he has proven himself to be... memorable.

Is that the best you got, Jeff?  Have you considered the fact that the excitement at the Ryder Cup was generated by.....well, the Ryder Cup?

I'll stipulate to this one:

3. The Olympic golf course. Architect Gil Hanse spent four years carving it out of a patch of sand along a nature preserve, and it's gorgeous. Like most things about this Olympics, the course is not without controversy (more on that shortly) but it's an open, links-style track that could fit well in Australia's sand belt, and it will play spectacularly on hi-def TV.

But no sale on this one:

5. Brazilians care about golf. Not all Brazilians, but more than you might think. If you missed it last May, here's our debut edition of GOLF Films, which takes you on a tour of golf and life in this complicated city, and explores the controversy around the Olympic course. Not shown: our three-man crew ate about 14 pounds of steak while working on-site over the five-day shoot.

Errr, no they don't....and we'll see what happens to this first-rate golf course over time....  But I'm guessing they didn't wash their steak down with tap water....

While we're on the subject, shall we scan some recent headlines?

Expert to Rio Athletes: 'Don't Put Your Head Under Water'

Welcome To Rio: Olympic Village Catches Fire, Athletes Robbed, & Water "Teeming With Dangerous Viruses"

 Olympic Athletes at Risk of Becoming 'Violently Ill' from Rio Water ...

I can barely contain my excitement....

Dateline:  Augusta, GA and Chaska, MN - There's Tiger news, though we're playing a little carelessly with the concept of news....  First, please remember to bet with your head, not over it:

It's not so much the number itself. After all, Tiger Woods at 66-to-1 odds to win the 2017 Masters is a far cry from the days when he was essentially a straight up bet against the rest of the field. But when you compare the figure to the odds of other golfers, it seems absurd. 

According to Bovada Sportsbook, Woods has the same odds as Zach Johnson. He also has the same odds as Brooks Koepka and Branden Grace, both of whom just finished T-4 at the PGA Championship. Woods has better odds than Jimmy Walker, the guy who just WON the Wanamaker Trophy. Yeah, we think Tiger, despite the 14 major trophies of his own, is a tad overvalued.

Does Bovada accept shorts?  And since he has way too much time on his hands, he's apparently taking to stalking Davis Love:

Apparently, Tiger Woods is taking his role as Ryder Cup vice captain very seriously. In a video interview with Sky Sports, U.S. captain Davis Love III said the 14-time major winner has already texted him a list of names he believes should be picked for the American squad that goes to Hazeltine. 

"He's already picked his four," Love said in the interview. "I can't tell you who they are, but he knows who he wants to watch and who he wants to manage and who he'll get along with. I think Paul Azinger really showed us that breaking it down into small groups and having each group be responsible for themselves is kind of the way to go, and Tiger's all over that." 

And it hasn't stopped there.

Davis, give me a call and I can walk you through the steps to block that phone number...you'll thank me later.

And this was seen around Baltusrol, and I understand that Trump has his best people on it:

That may be too big an order even for The Donald....

Dateline: Springfield, NJ -  Just a little PGA detritus before I let you get on with your day....

First, this compilation of weather-related photos in case you feel the need to relive the dreary weekend:

Just to be on the safe side, let's round up two of each species....

Jason Sobel takes the PGA of America to the woodshed over their Saturday decisions:

This weather was always in the forecast, though it's debatable whether the radar showed

this much rain coming down for this long. Kerry Haigh, the PGA of America's chief championships officer, explained that the forecast was similar to those of the first two tournament days, which included just one short delay. But they knew the storms were coming. Everyone knew they were coming, in some shape or form. 

For an organizing body running a golf tournament with impending weather, there are two potential options: The first is to move up tee times and try to get as much golf played as possible before any suspension of play. The second is to try to get lucky. 

In Saturday's scenario, the PGA of America chose the second option.

This was written before Sunday's play, when the PGA's trifecta came in.... they got very lucky on Sunday to avoid both further weather delays and a playoff, which only means they'll keep making this mistake.  

Lastly, Shack's been ranting up a storm, though I've not yet blogged his dis of TNT, which he amusingly starts with an homage to everyone's favorite TV commercial:

Golf on TV could be the greatest, it could be the best, it could be King Kong banging on its chest! 

Standing in the Hall of Fame, and the world might even know golf is not lame!

On the bright side, at least Omega finally popped for a new advertisement.... I know, not as new as was hope.  This guy really nailed it though:

Yeah, that's the ticket.....

Martin Kaufmann has some thoughts as well:

My big concern each year with the PGA Championship is that it feels less like a major than an expanded version of a regular PGA Tour event. The frequency of commercial breaks on the early TNT coverage and through much of CBS’ coverage drags down the live shows. 

I don’t necessarily fault CBS for this. I’m not privy to CBS’ contract with the PGA of America, but I assume the PGA, as the rights holder, made a decision to accept a bigger fee in exchange for more commercial inventory. When I asked McManus about this, he said, “I don’t have a feeling that we really missed anything (because of commercial breaks).”

He later added, “That (the amount of commercial inventory) would be something that we certainly would talk to the PGA of America about. Our deal’s in place for three more years, but we have a regular, ongoing dialogue with the PGA, and that might be a subject that we talk about with the PGA, absolutely.”

That's hardly a serious response to the question... and I suspect that the conversation will be short one, ending right about when CBS asks the PGA if they'd be willing to take a little less....  here's Geoff's take:

Not being present at this year’s PGA Championship afforded an opportunity to be reunited with the early 2000s, a.k.a. a TNT broadcast at a major championship. But this is not to pick on any one network (well, maybe a little), as some of the same issues TNT exemplifies afflict all of the major broadcast presentations, though no major has the annual commercial and promo dump that is the PGA of America's dreadful presentation.

Geoff was also critical of TNT's use of technology, though Kaufmann gave them credit for this:

At the PGA Championship, CBS offered its own spin on an innovation we first saw from Fox Sports at the U.S. Open – the use of the ball tracer superimposed on a hole graphic, next to a live shot of the player on the tee. This has been one of the best innovations of the year. CBS’ twist was to show the tracer from the fairway looking back at the tee, rather than vice versa.

Am I the only one that found that last bit highly disorienting and really annoying?  They used a surprisingly wide frame, so there were all sort of features to sort through to figure where the player was.  More importantly, looking back to the tee provided no framework as to whether the shot was on a good or bad line.... much better in my mind to match the perspective of the live shot from behind the tee.

But this is the crux of his argument:

In golf, it's vital that television presentation be strong to "grow" participation in the game. More people watch golf on TV than avidly play it. That's an amazing notion suggesting how vital telecast presentation may be in motivating people to play.

True that.

 Great Minds Think Alike - The Martin Kaufmann close with this:

Foltz on Sunday describing Women’s British Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn: “She’s Laura Davies with a putter, Lydia Ko with length, and Michelle Wie without a swing thought. She’s the whole package.”

Hmmmmm...where have I heard thoughts like that before?  Though I had the good sense to leave Michelle Wie out of it, otherwise we're going to need a team of Viennese psychiatrists.... 

Weekend Wrap

Well, that was exciting, wasn't it?  Yeah, for maybe five minutes, after Day's clsoing eagle and....well, you know the rest.  It was annus horribilus for the governing bodies of our game, but let's pay our respects to the winner first.....

Mike Bamberger layers on as much lipstick as the pig can stand:

Years from now, when junior is a grandfather and drivers are made out of wood again,

golf fans will look back at the list of winners of the PGA Championship and see the name Jimmy Walker right alongside some of the most sparkly names in the history of the game. Congratulations, Mr. Walker. You won yourself a major, the 2016 PGA Championship. Nobody can take that away from you. Winning at Napa or San Antonio or Honolulu, that's a fineaccomplishment. But it doesn't make you part of the lore of the game. You, sir, are now part of the lore. Even if it might not feel like it just now. 

Walker, a native Oklahoman who lives in Texas and carries himself with deep reserves of calm, had a remarkable four rounds on the par-70 Lower course at Baltusrol Golf Club: 65, 66, 68 and a rock-solid, bogey-free 67 in the finale, giving him a one-stroke victory over Jason Day, who won the PGA so memorably last year at Whistling Straits, on glimmering Lake Michigan. Walker didn't do much wrong on Sunday, suggesting that he either has ice water flowing through his veins or that he treated this major championship as if he were playing in the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic, an event he won on the Nationwide tour nine years ago. 

It is not Walker's fault, nor anybody else's, that this rain- and heat-plagued 98th PGA Championship felt more like the old Sammy Davis Jr. Hartford stop at Wethersfield Country Club than the grand event it actually is.

Errr...that last sentence screams for a rebuttal, though we can agree that it's certainly not Walker's fault.   

Fact is that the PGA has long been problematic, having no recognizable identity....  The other three majors are firmly etched in our minds with distinct playing conditions and challenges, but the PGA has mostly been a USGA-light.  To be fair it started its life with such an identity, a match-play event, but that proved incompatible with the television era....

The PGA hasn't, in my mind, helped itself in latching on to hand-me-down USGA venues, including Baltusrol, Oak Hill, Southern Hills, Hazeltine and the like.  More recently they've tried to become a Masters-wannabe, with a Champion's Dinner and diluting the field by including past champions.....

They've also tried to make their course set-ups more player friendly, and I don't necessarily quibble with that....except, as Mike notes above, that veers deep into routine Tour event territory....Then schedule it a mere ten days after the Open Championship and apathy ensues....

Now it turns out that the winner and I are neighbors:

In earnest, Walker had already done his work a few weeks earlier in Park City, Utah, where his wife Erin’s parents have a home and where Harmon also has a vacation house.

“It’s so relaxing for us,” Erin said. “He has memberships to two courses there so he can go play and practice whenever he wants.” 

Harmon worked on getting Walker to stand a little closer to the ball as well as the posture of his right leg, which he was straightening and therefore causing him to get outside his right side on the swing.

The two also focused on the six-inch space between Walker’s ears. His season hadn’t exactly gone to plan with missed cuts in half of his last eight starts coming into the year’s final major. Despite a career in which he had won five times in just over 18 months between the fall of 2013 and early 2015 after going 0-for-his-first-187-starts on tour, Walker was down on himself and his game.

Anyone that's anybody hangs in Park City, so no surprise there....   Moving a little closer to the ball and focusing on posture has yielded good results for your humble correspondent this year, though the six inches between my ears remains a no-go zone....

The Tour Confidential panel gives Jimmy his due as well:

Gary Van Sickle: JW did it the old-fashioned, Steady-Eddy way, fairways and greens,

better than anyone else. When your worst score is 68, you played golf.

Cameron Morfit: I'm impressed that Walker was able to hold it together given his lackluster results this year. He'd missed four cuts in his last eight starts. His last top 10 was at the WGC-Cadillac at Doral. He couldn't have been overflowing with confidence, but he was still able to close in the heat. Impressive.

 I quite agree, though the accompanying pic reminds me of the PGA's love of hot, steamy venues....  Let's see, North Carolina in August, discussing nothing but which bathroom folks will use....what could go wrong?

Now it's time to take the PGA to the woodshed...  We'll start slowly, with the TC panel's judicious comments:

2.) On a rainy Saturday at Baltusrol, the PGA of America brought the possibility of a Monday finish very much into play by declining to send players off two tees. In the fourth round, PGA officials elected to institute lift, clean and place, for the first time in tournament history. What did you make of these decisions?

VAN SICKLE: It turned out better than expected, really, but for once the PGA of America left itself some margin of error. Purists will be horrified, but modern golf is a TV show. It's all about that.

GODICH: The lift, clean and place seemed unavoidable, but the PGA dodged a bullet. Going to double tees on Saturday would have allowed for repairing in the final round. Officials were fortunate to get the finish they did and not having to crown a champion who won while sitting in the clubhouse for a couple of hours.

Let's agree that they got lucky... but where was that margin for error?  The final tee time on Sunday was at 3:16 and they didn't leave enough time for their three-hole playoff.....

Shack was spewing venom, first with this post exhuming his 2005 vitriol, when the failure to move up the Sunday tee times led to a Monday finish.   

Then there's this provocative header:

Poll: Who Had The Worse Year? USGA vs. PGA Of America

I'm thinking.....they're both so worthy.... Here's Shack's case:

Now I know what you're saying, no one can top the USGA's handling of the Dustin Johnson ruling news (or the ruling itself), the Bethany Lang/Anna Nordqvist ruling delivery, and president Diana Murphy's two warbling trophy presentation speeches. Our late, great friend Frank Hannigan wouldn't even allow that these events could be topped.

But then the PGA Of America arrived at Baltursol where they famously wouldn't move those 2005 final round times up an hour so a 60 Minutes re-run could get a strong lead in, only to finish on Monday because of that stubborness. They repeat the same lack of adaptability on Saturday this year at the same course, Baltusrol, only to salvaged Sunday by weather that didn't come and stellar dramatics from Jimmy Walker and Jason Day. There's more, though! They actually cut a hole in the incorrect location and no one noticed until a group had gone through. As Brian Wacker notes, they also played lift, clean and place (wisely it turns out),but a day after preaching lofty standards about starting on the first tee and playing the ball down.

It's a shame that one has to lose.... But I'm thinking that Diana Murphy's recurring role as the drunk award presenter puts Far Hills over the top.... Maybe we should see how Bethany Lang is going to vote.

As for playing lift, clean and cheat in the final round, does anyone remember this happening previously at a major?  Here was the PGA on Saturday:

It should also be noted that officials on Saturday were fairly adamant the latter would not take place. Remember, this, after all, is major. 

“They will be playing -- it's unlikely, very unlikely unless -- it's very unlikely,” said Kerry Haigh, the PGA of America’s chief championships officer, at the time. “The Rules of Golf are there to cover wet weather.” 

Less than 12 hours later, however, officials did an about face. Sixth-tenths of an inch of rain had fallen overnight and more wet weather was in the forecast for Sunday. They announced that while the ball would continue to be played down in the third round (once a round starts, it can’t be changed), players would be able to play ball-in-hand for the final round.

Well, This is Major....until it's not....

And as long as they bring majors to the Northeast in the height of summer, this will continue to be a factor...

Alex Myers spent the final round with Erin Walker, an engaging presence on Twitter, and the use of the word torture in the title is understandable:

And not surprisingly, as the day went on, the pressure mounted. "I don't get this nervous

when I'm jumping," Walker, an accomplished horse jumper said. Later, a friend joked, "We need to get you some oxygen. Medic! (Raising a finger) For the wife!" 

There was frustration at times. We got stuck in a bottleneck on the way to the seventh tee, causing us to miss Jimmy's tee shot. "I wish they'd let us inside the ropes. We know where to go!" And then, after hearing some particularly, um, rowdy fans, she said, "Note to the PGA: Do NOT sell giant beers next year." 

Of course, there were thrilling moments as well. On No. 10, after nine straight pars to begin his round, Jimmy looked in danger of dropping his first shot when he found the greenside bunker. Instead, he found the bottom of the cup with his third for an improbable birdie. Erin could finally make as much noise as she wanted.

It's harder to watch than to play....and I can relate to this:

OK, so there might have been some other words in there. Not that you could blame her. Even I now found myself thinking, Holy crap, this really might happen. I'm sure Erin thinks the same thing, but I don't ask her. Instead, I offer her a spot right by the rope on the 11th green. "No, I don't want to be in his line of sight. I don't want him to see me." Jimmy doesn't see Erin, but he sees the 20-footer for birdie perfectly, rolling it in and setting off another series of "WOO!"s from Erin. 

Holy crap, this IS going to happen.

When Employee No. 2 closed out her Club Championship last summer, I was hiding behind some trees....

But all's well that ends well...

And props to Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler for being there to congratulate the winner.... That's very much part of what makes our game different.

And if you think this week was tough, check out this amusing Jaime Diaz item on the history of bad weather at majors.  This sounds like it was quite the week:

In 1986, at the NCR C.C. in Dayton, Ohio, the championship was first delayed after a railroad tanker derailed and spilled a load of phosphates, which raised clouds of poison smoke throughout the community. Shortly thereafter, the area also experienced heavy lightening storms and a 4.2 earthquake. When the sun finally came out, players complained of flesh-eating flies. Somehow four rounds were completed by Sunday, but a Monday playoff was required, won by Jane Geddes.

This is a subject on which my peeps have experience, and it's not really serious until they get to the slaying of the first born.

We'll get to some other golf news later on, but I'll go out with this question from the TC panel linked above:

6.) The first round of the 2017 Masters is only 249 days away. Who's your favorite?

Now I'm really depressed.