Weekend Wrap

So, what do you guys want to talk about today?  

Tigermania - Grizzled vet Mike Bamberger was in the scrum coming up that 18th fairway:

Eighteen on Sunday at 6 o’clock, as Tiger marched up it with Rory McIlroy, was absolute pandemonium. For a few hectic minutes, the sheriffs and cops and security

officials — many of them burly men with huge voices and necks that were huger yet — could not control the crowd. Thousands of spectators, nearly all of them sweaty men, a good number of them over-served, swarmed the fairway. If you were in this dense mass of humanity, you could barely breathe and you might have found it scary. 

Woods was ahead of the fray, but only by a few yards. It was like a a great pressure valve had been released. There were rhythmic chants for the winner, for one of the greatest winners any sport has ever witnessed. But it felt like more than that. “The art of clapping is gone, right?” Woods said good-naturedly later. Back in his prime, he hated it when crowds got near him. “You can’t clap when you’ve got a cellphone in your hands.”

That actually looked more than a little scary, though it seems everyone survived unscathed.... 

Dave Dusek had this pithy summary of the five years in the wilderness:

After waiting more than five years since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational – 1,876 days to be precise – and undergoing four back surgeries to alleviate pain in his neck and lower back, Woods was emotional on the 18th green during the closing ceremonies.

Before we circle back to The Striped One, let's take a moment with this schadenfreudaliscious header:

Oh no! Under next year’s new Tour Championship format, Tiger Woods wouldn’t have won

  But I've been reliably informed that Justin Rose won....

The Tour Confidential lads dive in on the issue of the day:

1. Tiger Woods has done what many observers once thought was unachievable. He overcame injuries, swing changes, off-course embarrassments, chip yips and even Father Time to win again on the PGA Tour. No one will confuse a 30-player Tour Championship field for the Masters or U.S. Open, but given the circumstances, is this the greatest comeback in sports history?

This is clearly a no or, perhaps more appropriately, a not yet....

John Wood: The win is too fresh to say. There have been some unbelievable comebacks

(Hogan almost dying in a car accident comes to mind) and only time will tell where this one ranks. But I’m sure in the end it will be way up there. What this win does do is resurrect golf. Not that it was down, but THIS is why we need Tiger to be like this. The crowds and the reactions were absolutely thrilling and priceless. The other guys are great, but Tiger does something to sports fans no one else is capable of doing.

Michael Bamberger: No. It’s a process. He’s a work in progress. It’s astounding. But Tiger Woods, as a historical figure in the game, is all about the majors. As a human being, where he is from where he was is… immeasurable.

This was a great week for Tiger and the game, but a little perspective is in order.  He beat only 29 other guys, so I'm far more impressed that he qualified for the event than by his winning it...  

In fact, the Golf Magazine guys did a pop-up TC Panel Saturday night that dealt with this question:

Tour Confidential Daily: Would a Woods victory be diminished because of East Lake’s small field?

Diminished seems not quite the right word, perhaps we should just quote that famous philosopher who famously said, "It is what it is."

We'll give Alan Shipnuck first crack at the issue of the day, what comes next, though I can't help but include his even pithier take on the back story:

He might’ve started celebrating a little too early, making a couple of sloppy bogies on 15 and 16, but those little mistakes were long forgotten by the time of the emotional

celebration on the final green. The fire hydrant, the 85 at Memorial, chip-yips, a DUI, hacked naked photos, shooting pains that brought him to his knees between the ropes, the layup on the 72nd hole at Valspar, the back-nine bogies at Carnoustie…you could see all of that in Tiger’s watery eyes. The fans were feeling it, too: The madcap scene at East Lake looked more like a religious revival than a golf tournament.

Well, revival seems exactly the right word.....

So, now that Woods has done what many of us thought he would never do again, what’s next? Tiger has famously had four back surgeries but it’s clear now that he still has more backbone than any other player in golf. During this season of reinvention two clubs had been holding him back: his driver and putter. (Woods had already reclaimed his title as the best iron player in the game.) But recent tweaks to the shaft and loft of his big stick have left Tiger swinging with more confidence and less bellicosity, and the way he dominated McIlroy off the tee on Sunday will long linger. No middle-aged warrior putts as well as they did during their halcyon 20s, but Woods was brilliant on the greens at the Tour Championship. Suddenly the ascent up Mt. Nicklaus has begun again, though up next is Sam Snead and his Tour record 82 victories. 

But Tiger turns 43 before this year is out. Can his reconstituted spine hold up to the rigors of the Tour grind? Will this divorced father of two continue to chase his former glory with the same single-mindedness now that he’s proven to himself (and everyone else) that he is still a winner? Those are questions for another day. Let the record show that Sept. 23, 2018, is when Eldrick Woods became Tiger once again.

Alan has just broken faith with his readers... If you're header promises an answer to the question of "What comes nest?", leaving it for another day is bad form....

3. How does this alter the landscape of the Tour moving forward? Can this version of Tiger have several more years of successful, winning golf, including more major wins? Is 18 back on the table? 

Bamberger: The whole example, the whole point here, is to say there’s no reason to think 18 should not be back on the table. Although I cannot see it. But it doesn’t matter what I think. Tiger’s the one doing the work. He is the one who understands his favorite word, process.

I think Mike should have rejected the premise of the question...  The important point is that 15 is back on the table, which it hasn't been since August 2013.  But the usually observant John Wood doesn't seem to get it:

Wood: As always, if his health remains, he looks to have at least five more years of championship-caliber golf. That’s 20 more majors, and given the fact that he had a chance to win two this year, before this win, I’d say everything is back on the table. As far as the landscape of the Tour, WHY are we changing the playoff format? The scenarios that were going on on that back nine were some of the most exciting things I’ve seen in golf in a long time. I kind of like the idea of two different things going on at once.

C'mon, John, do I really need to explain this to you?  Yesterday was interesting because it was Tiger....  Put Billy Horschel or any other interchangeable player in the lead of the Tour Championship and can you not see how yesterday would have deprived us of our will to live?

Ritter: I don’t know about 18, but I feel good about at least one more. It all depends on his health. Also, it seems like every year, in early spring, we ask ourselves, “Is this the most hotly anticipated Masters ever?” We can break that one out early. As in, today. 

Passov: I’ll agree with John Wood on Tiger’s prospects. He was right there on the back nine of the season’s final two majors, so why shouldn’t he be in the mix for several more? Eighteen is clearly a stretch, but why preclude the possibility? He’s once again one of the best players on Tour, so more wins and at least one more major is a realistic expectation. The Tour has to be LOVING this.

Christopher Powers and John Feinstein tackle the historical comeback issues, but the category errors mar the effort.  The former goes wide, covering all of sports, but.... well, see what you think:

Peyton Manning

After undergoing a pair of surgeries for his neck and spine in a span of five months in

2011, there were legitimate questions about whether or not Manning could ever return to an NFL field. Rumors then began to swirl that Manning couldn't even complete his throwing motion and had lost a significant amount of arm strength. But Denver Broncos general manager John Elway must have known something we didn't, because he signed Manning to a five-year contract that paid dividends. He went on to play four more years, winning his fifth NFL MVP award and appearing in two Super Bowls and winning one of them along the way.

See what I mean by category errors?  And more from Feinstein:

One need not compare it to Hogan. Apples and oranges. Different circumstances; different time; different world. Both are worthy of great respect, perhaps even awe. Tom Watson almost won the Open Championship six weeks shy of turning 60—26 years after his last major victory. That surely should garner some attention. 

Outside of golf, seven years after he had last won a major championship, Jimmy Connors made it to the U.S. Open tennis semifinals at age 39—which is considerably older in tennis than 42 is in golf. He didn’t win, but like Woods this year, played well enough to make those two weeks memorable. 

Watson and Connors made their stunning comebacks in one tournament, not over an entire year. Gordie Howe returned to the NHL at 51 when the Hartford Whalers of the defunct WHA joined the league, and he played in all 80 games, scoring 15 goals. He even played alongside a then-19-year-old Wayne Gretzky in the All-Star game. 

Muhammad Ali was denied 3½ years of his peak as a boxer because he refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army and came back to beat George Foreman to win back the heavyweight championship at age 32. 

There are, of course, other comeback stories across sports. But what Woods has accomplished this year certainly belongs high on any list of great comebacks.

Tom Watson?  Comeback is a funny term, dependent in equal part on the "From" and the "To".  In the Tiger's case the from is quite impressive, given that most of us considered him toast.  It's the "To" that's problematic, as beating a 30-player field in a money grab pales compared to Hogan's six majors post-bus.   On the flip side, though, it's still a work-in-process, so perhaps we should all chill....

Let me also note that we live in a world in which Steve Stricker won two consecutive Comeback Player of the Year Awards.... OK, I get the first, but the second has always puzzled me....

This was great, but there are two issues of greater interest to your humble correspondent....  care to join me?

Out With a Thud - Perhaps I erred in not saving that "Oh No!" from above, but Shack takes on the issue of the event's format change, first with this from his blog:

For over a decade we were annually told that what we saw before us was not as bad as

most suspected: the FedExCup was wonderful and not the most poorly constructed competition in sports. It was even exciting—Bill Haas!—and beyond the massive bonus money, was so much better than merely ending the season with a fall Tour Championship.

Which was true, if you were a PGA Tour player or executive cashing a bonus check.

Mercifully, the final version of the points-reset, algorithm-decided iteration ended with Justin Rose’s clinching 73 Sunday at East Lake. Rose made just 18 starts in 2018, killing the notion that season-long play starts were rewarded.

Questions loom about the purity of the next format with $15 million now on the line, but Tiger Woods thankfully helped everyone forget about that issue until we get to next August.

Rose must have been awarded the $10 million large for season-long achievement, because yesterday's play wasn't worthy of consideration.  I'll also say that that good bounce on the second shot on No. 18 was deserved after the bad break of blowing through the fairway with his 361-yard drive.

Shack uses his Golfweek platform to talk about what might have been:

If all goes well and the new format survives, the conclusion to the PGA Tour season should be compelling enough to watch most years. But the Tour Championship, now just 

a FedEx Cup concluding tournament adding a season-long excellence bias, will be missing the core component of any great playoff: rejection. 

The new FedEx Cup borrows a guiding and fatal flaw of its predecessor in resisting rejection by trying to influence on-the-field play. Yet America loves winners but secretly adores watching how others handle losing. The PGA Tour says it’s all about fan engagement these days, but the millions who tune into reality shows or playoffs in other sports also enjoy the process of elimination.

Yes, and that issue is complicated by the nature of our game, in which the best players win realtively rarely.

Had this been up to fans, some players or media, the playoffs would eventually let go of protecting season-long play and turned the players loose to decide the FedEx Cup. Gasp! Upsets might occur. Rejections in the form of a Tour Championship cut could have created shocking twists. Fans would have been more engaged by the possibility of an upset. 

Imagine a simple scenario in which the PGA Tour retained four days of Tour Championship play by keeping the hard-working algorithm in business a few days longer while also deciding a legitimate tournament. Then send the final six FedEx Cup leaders to a fifth day with an 18- or 36-hole shootout for the new first prize of $15 million that anyone can follow. 

“I would say that internally, we had a lot of discussion about a format like that, coming down to 18 holes or coming down to 36 holes, whether you were four or six players, and we brought that forward,” Monahan said.

“We didn’t get a whole lot of traction on those concepts just because players felt like – you look at the FedEx Cup and the fact that I’m battling from the Safeway Open to the Wyndham Championship, I make my way into the playoffs, and it’s going to come down to an 18-hole shootout?”

Traction?  Bitterly clinging to their participation ribbons, though theirs come with lots of zeros and commas...

The point of including that Wndham nonsense should have been to allow the freedom to make what comes after a high-stakes shoot-out, but they just can't get out of their own way....  The question is what happens when they have the next runaway result at East Lake?   That, we can all agree, is a question for a future day....

The Week Upon Us - Josh Sens had a well, sensible item Saturday night on the ramifications of a Tiger win, including this obvious point:

7. It would add yet another jolt to the Ryder Cup 

As if we needed further reason to be pumped for Paris, we would now have Tiger, fresh off a W, firmly in the fray of golf’s fiercest rivalry, no longer merely playing a ceremonial role. Not even the French could remain blase. Vive le Tigre!

Sure does, and it's a jolt to an event not actually needing any more juice...  But who does it help?  Not much attention to that...

Oh, the TC panel did have this:

5. Oh, if you haven’t heard, the Ryder Cup is next week. Woods is clearly in form, but several of his teammates aren’t quite so sharp. Jordan Spieth didn’t qualify for the Tour Championship (the only U.S. Ryder Cup player not in the field), and Brooks Koepka (four over), Patrick Reed (nine over), Bubba Watson (10 over) and Phil Mickelson (13 over) spiraled to the bottom four spots on the leaderboard. If you are Captain Furyk, any cause for concern?

Oh, yeah, though there's concerns for both teams....

Wood: No. The Ryder Cup is a completely different animal. It’s not a normal golf tournament. Being sharp physically going in is nice, but it’s certainly not a prerequisite for having a great Ryder Cup. There are too many variables. In the Tour Championship, if you’re not right there with a chance to win or at least top 10, it can be difficult to find inspiration. The difference between 15th and 30th is negligible in almost every way. So, if you’re not right there it’s easy to let your focus slip and let your mind wander to other things, especially when the Ryder Cup is the next event you’ll play in. I’m sure Captain Furyk is not concerned with anyone’s form. 

Bamberger: I stand with John. It’s match play. It’s head games. It’s Paris. It’s just completely different from a 72-hole I-hate-bogeys grindfest.

For sure...unless, you know, it isn't.  Some more thoughts:

Zak: I tend to agree with the men above. That being said, the difference between 15th and 30th here has got to be a lot more. Mickelson, Reed and Spieth have all caught my eye in a bad way. Let’s continue to talk sample size, though, and presume that they’ll all bring their hard hats to Le Golf National.

Dethier: Concern? Perhaps mild; the bottom four players on this week’s leaderboard are all donning the stars and stripes, and that’s not meaningless. But I think there may be a bit of a reset happening on the team plane at the moment as they celebrate Tiger’s victory and head to Paris. The U.S. is still certainly the favorites, but I expect a competitive, compelling week.

It's just the great unknown....  Some will thrive and others will wilt, but it makes those Friday morning matches Guys like Spieth and Phil may well ride the emotions to a better place, but they better do so quickly.....  

But what might we expect from Tiger?  Talk about your wild cards...  We've all seen Tiger finally embrace this event, and we can assume that he really wants to deliver the goods.  But we also see emotional letdowns after big wins, and only a few weeks back the conventional wisdom was that Tiger was worn out by the rigors of the long season.

I think the two top Euros, Rose and Rory, will be a bit embarrassed by their play, and they'll all want a piece of Tiger....  I'm going to allocate a small edged to the Euros coming out of this week, though the Ryder Cup remains a toss-up in all regards.  

And we will be flooding the zone on it all week.  Check back early and often.

Loose Ends

As time permits, a few items submitted for your approval...

Rules Stuff - While I was away, the USGA and R&A released their shiny new rules revisions, along with a heaping spoonful of blarney.  We mostly have been over this ground, but Shack and Alistair Tait have me reconsidering one aspect that I was previously OK with:

I’m all for simplifying the rules. I welcome cutting them from the 34 to 24. I like the fact we’ll be able to putt with the flag in the hole, reducing the search for a lost ball from five 

to three minutes, the emphasis on ready golf and that I won’t be penalized for accidentally kicking my ball while searching for it in the rough. However, I’ve got a problem with Rule 13.1c, which states: 

“A player may repair damage on the putting green without penalty by taking reasonable actions to restore the putting greens as nearly as possible to its original condition. Damage on the putting green means any damage caused by a person or outside influence.” 

The new rule then goes on to list ball marks, shoe damage (such as spike marks), scrapes, indentations, old hole plugs, turf plugs, animal tracks, hoof indentations and embedded objects as damage that can be repaired. In short, anything goes.

There is a caveat to the new rule that says such repair may be done “without unreasonably delaying play.”

Let me just say here that the old rule had its own share of problems, including incentivizing players to inaccurately mark their balls on short putts.  At the time of Lexigate, our hero Phil told us this was a common occurrence out there, and your humble observer thought it better to do away with the charade.

The powers that be tell us not to worry:

“It was an area in the extensive discussions that we talked about for some time because in all of this we were interested in speeding the game up, and this change in particular could potentially even go the other way. But what I would say is that it does present a completely different dynamic,” he said. 

“I think we’ll see people repairing damage as a collective at different times. I think what you will also see is that the putting green surfaces will generally be maintained throughout the day through the actions of all the players at different times in a much higher standard. So those players at the end of the are only repairing the minimal damage that hasn’t already been repaired. I think in reality it will work.”

And yet, worry Geoff does:

I don’t. And this is someone who believes in Rickman’s views on the rules. Primarily, I just can’t see how you can instill a “play it as it lies” mentality in today’s players or future generations when you can now make it lie on the greens. They already complain when all 18 greens are not of the same firmness and speed, and providing a free-for-all to manicure lines seems like less of a slow play issue and more of a core value undermining problem.

Certainly a case could be made that introducing spike-mark tapping could have alleviate pressure on supers to present perfect conditions. But the first time you watch an elite player turn golf into curling by massaging their line, I’m confident you’ll miss the old play it as it lies days.

We’ll find out soon enough!

The curling reference is worth a smile, though I'll take a pass on this issue, at least for now.  Even if Shack and Tait are correct that guys will be performing a mani-pedi on their line of play, we'll never see it on the TV coverage....

In a similar vein, Mike Bamberger is auditioning for the role of Tom Watson in this morality play, using that recent anonymous poll  as his tent pole:

HAVE YOU EVER WITNESSED A FELLOW TOUR PLAYER CHEAT DURING A TOURNAMENT ROUND?

YES: 44%

NO: 56%

“Multiple times. The Tour is a joke when it comes to enforcing the rules.”

“I’ve seen guys bend the rules and mark their ball improperly.” 

HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN A RULE AND NOT REPORTED IT?

YES: 0%

NO: 100%

To which he dispenses some tough love:

But the job of enforcing the rules is fundamentally on the players. If the rules officials see a drop going awry, it is their job to step in and make sure it’s done correctly, and that is what they generally do. If one player says the ball crossed at point A and the other point B, the rules officials have to adjudicate, and they generally do. They are not the police. They’re not trying to catch players. Their first job is to help players turn in the most accurate scorecard they can. It is each individual player who serves as a police officer. He should be doing an ongoing and continuing and intense investigation of his own play and the play of the others in his group.

I think Mike is spot on here, though a rather large BUT is to follow.   Like Mike, I am sympathetic to the plight of the rules officials, and I have myself noted that the current generation of players, who in most respects are gracious and show integrity, have for some reason not absorbed the importance of their obligation to protect the field.

I also am forced to note that in the most visible test of mike's premise, the Sung Kang drop a few months ago to which Joel Dahmen objected, the rules official did not support the player performing as Mike would have him do.  It's a small fishbowl, and word has gotten out that the officials can be rolled, so there we are.

But Mike loses me as he tries to make a larger point about society at large:

Our modern wink-wink culture is at odds with what golf is supposed to stand for. You may question the source, but Stormy Daniels, in a book coming out next month, “Full Disclosure,” claims that in 2006 Donald Trump promised to get her a role on his TV show, “The Apprentice.” Quoting what Trump allegedly told her, she writes, “‘We’ll figure out a way to get you the challenges beforehand.’” Later she writes, “He was going to have me cheat, and it was 100 percent his idea.”

WTF, Mike!  Societal norms have been degrading for a long time, so lets' not make our last stand on Stormy Daniels....agreed?

Ryder Cup Stuff -  We'll lead with this amusing Josh Barton piece on the atmospherics of French golf:

The British have tended to have a superiority complex toward their continental neighbors, but perhaps that masks a degree of envy, too. There's an Internet meme based

on European national stereotypes: "Heaven is where the police are British, the lovers French, the mechanics German, the chefs Italian, and it's all organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the lovers Swiss, the mechanics French, the chefs British, and it's all organized by the Italians." Of course such characterizations are clichés, but nevertheless, it's hard to walk the streets of Paris in April and not feel a frisson; a certain je ne sais quoi. There's a reason France is consistently the most visited nation on earth with 89-million-plus international arrivals a year. People come for the food, the arts, the chateâux, the beaches. But perhaps what they come most for is the joie de vivre. For love. 

Only in France would someone design a golf course as an homage to a woman's body. Viewed from the air, Robert Berthet's Macon La Salle Golf Club in Burgundy, opened in 1990, is a riot of curvaceous mounds, contours and strategically positioned hazards that depict the body parts of a woman called Nicole, Berthet's muse. Many who play the par-4 11th, for instance, succumb to a gaping triangular bunker in the corner of the dogleg. After accusations of sexism, a "male" hole was added to La Salle's nine-hole course: a par 3 with a distinctively shaped tee and green, measuring 180 yards, though male members of the club are prone to exaggerate the length.

Amusingly, we had a British chef on our French barge, but he rocked...  Of course he was actually from Cornwall, which is a bit of inside baseball, settled by the Gauls, not the Saxons.  Anyway, it's a fun read.

And today's installment of Bryson being Bryson includes this over-sharing:

"What I'm looking forward to most is the team atmosphere. I remember that at the Walker Cup, and that was like nothing else, and I know it'll live up to the same standard. Maybe even better, too. So a lot of ping-pong going on over there, I know that for me. I just actually bought a ping-pong paddle last night, another new one. I needed a new rubber, so..."

Hmmm.... isn't that why the guys bring their WAG du jour?  Joking aside, has anyone ever heard of a ping pong paddle being called a rubber?   

There was also this on Twitter.  Attention to detail or mad as a hatter?  You make the call...

Ryan Herrington focuses on the golf course in his preview offering:

5.) THE COURSE WON'T FAVOR ONE TEAM OVER ANOTHER (WINK! WINK!) 

The not-so-well-kept secret of the Ryder Cup is the influence the home captains have in course setups, the assumption being that they'll cater conditions to benefit their 12-man side. In 2016, the visiting Europeans howled about how wide open Hazeltine National played and the easy hole locations that set up a birdie-fest. 

In charge this time, the Europeans would seemingly desire thicker rough and narrow landing areas off the tee to counter the Americans' perceived length advantage off the tee. European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn insists that he does not envision seeking many changes compared to how the course played in July. 

"It's not a big driver's golf course, but we know that," Bjorn says. "It's not like you're going to hit 14 drivers. There are going to be a lot of irons. That's the way the golf course has always been."

That's an element of  the difficulty of road games, but I'm sure the Task Force is all over it...  Though this photo makes it look like Atlanta Athletic Club or the Bear Trap:

From all accounts, bomb and gauge will not get it done this week..... Let's see if Captain Furyk has the guys ready for their examination.

Good Fun - Blogger UK Golf Guy gets a bunch of golf nerds to list their top ten courses, and fun ensues.  He asked Alan, as in Shipnuck, who responded with these:

1. CRUDEN BAY

A nonstop thrill ride of fun, quirky holes up, down, and across wild terrain.

Golf Club Atlas, Cruden Bay Website

2. PEBBLE BEACH GOLF LINKS

Demands more heroic shots than any other course and offers the most majestic view in golf.

UK Golf Guy Review, Monterey Herald History, Youtube - Tiger Wood 2000

3. NORTH BERWICK (WEST LINKS)

The quintessence of Scottish golf, with so many unexpected twists and turns and some truly iconic holes.

UK Golf Guy review, Scottish Golf History, Planet Golf

4. CYPRESS POINT

The first ten holes are peak MacKenzie in terms of bunkering and green complexes, while 11-17 is quite simply the best golf on the planet.

Graylyn Loomis, Golf Digest, Playing the Top 100

5. ST ANDREWS - THE OLD COURSE

The most fascinating and charming course we have, and there’s nothing like those greens.

UK Golf Guy Review

6. MACRIHANISH GOLF CLUB

It begins with the best opening hole in the world and then just keeps on coming, with one great hole after another through heaving dunes.

Macrihanish Golf Club, Golf Empire

7. NATIONAL GOLF LINKS OF AMERICA

The template of C.B. Macdonald’s and Seth Raynor’s skill, weaved into the ideal terrain.

UK Golf Guy Review, NGLA website, 1968 Sports Illustrated Article

8. LAHINCH GOLF CLUB

It has the kind of unforgettable holes that compels a man to cross an ocean.

UK Golf Guy Review, Graylyn Loomis

9. MONTEREY PENINSULA COUNTRY CLUB (THE SHORE)

As elegant and beautiful as a painting, loaded with risk-reward shots that stir the soul.

MPCC site, Golf Course Gurus,

10. CASTLE STUART GOLF LINKS

A stunning new design that feels like it’s been there forever.

UK Golf Guy Review, Top100GolfCourses.com

No dogs on that list, though Pebble might be the worst of the bunch.  I've actually played all but one, so there's that....

 Shack offers his own list, along with folks such as Mike Clayton and Pat Goss.

FedEx Stuff - Lots of quibbling over the new format, but anyone who feels the the existing format works should be sentenced to read this Kyle Porter ranking of the eleven FedEx Cup finishes to date.  The over-reaction to this one gave us the present system:

11. Camilo Villegas wins, Vijay Singh gets rich (2008): This was the forerunner to the 2017 version and helped usher in a new era where a Tour Championship champion was all but assured of also winning the FedEx Cup. Because of its original structure, Villegas won the last two FedEx Cup events (and finished T3 at the one before those two) and still lost to Singh, who finished T22 and T44 at the final two (after winning the first two) and took home the $10 million.

No drama, but at least he was a worthy champion.  I'll take that in a heartbeat over Bill Haas and Billy Horschel... 

Have a good weekend and next week should be quite the wild ride.

To Infamy And Beyond

History is written by the victors. - Winston Churchill

Josh Berow revisits the infamous Gleneagles press conference in which Phil Mickelson took control of our Ryder Cup teams for the foreseeable future, defenestrated Captain Tom Watson and made the world safe for pods.  A performance that I found vile in all respects....

Before we get the meat of my multi-count indictment, lets join Josh in setting the table for that Sunday fiasco:

On Saturday night of the 2014 Ryder Cup, American players huddled in a team room at Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland. Tom Watson spoke. So did Phil Mickelson.

Through sources in the room, an ESPN report would later describe it as a tense and uncomfortable gathering, and it would become the preamble to one of the most bizarre Ryder Cup Sundays in history. Down 10-6 to the Europeans after a disappointing afternoon session, the U.S. needed to rally in Sunday singles to win for the first time since their 2008 triumph at Valhalla, and for just the third time in the last 10 meetings. Watson, the team’s temperamental leader, was brought back as a 65-year-old captain to rekindle his magic on European soil. He was the captain the last time the U.S. won an away match, in 1993 at the Belfry. But on this night he wasn’t in the mood for his customary captain’s gift, a replica Ryder Cup trophy signed by the team. He said he wanted the real one. One source told ESPN, “He said it basically means nothing to me.” Watson’s pep talk was more of a scolding. The whole ordeal left the room sour—Mickelson included.

Now, I have no interest in relitigating these issues, but that quote topping the post might apply here.  This and other alleged quotes from Watson can be interpreted in widely disparate manners, based upon the tone used.  I could see it being Tom's way of trying to motivate his team by reminding them that the real cup was still withing their reach, though you'll no doubt agree that this bit is spit-out-your-drink funny:

KEEGAN BRADLEY, U.S. TEAM  MEMBER: I remember it being different than Medinah [in 2012]. Medinah was such a fun atmosphere, and this was different. It could have been because we were getting our asses kicked. But it was a much different vibe, and we knew that going in; this wasn’t going to be like these other teams. [Watson] was going to come in, be a different captain. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

Because that worked out so well, Keegs?   I don't think Keegan is trying to be unfair here, but more's the pity, since he doesn't seem to understand that Medinah inevitably led to Watson.

Additional cutlery for the table:

To understand the nature of the tension that was mounting, and the mess that eventually spilled out very publicly in the infamous 2014 Ryder Cup press conference, you’ve first got to understand a bit about captain Watson, the team’s inspirational leader Mickelson, and their testy relationship. Golf Channel insider Tim Rosaforte reported that Mickelson wanted early on to be a part of the Ryder Cup decision-making process, but calls to Watson months before the event went unreturned. Ted Bishop, the PGA of America president at the time, said he thinks it’s “highly doubtful” that Watson wouldn’t have returned Mickelson’s calls. Bishop, however, said he believes Mickelson was irked when Watson said publicly that Tiger Woods, if healthy, would be a captain’s pick. Mickelson never received such public reassurances but eventually auto-qualified regardless.

Ya got that?  Phil wasn't even guaranteed to be on the team, but he had a right to demand the captain's attention months ahead of the event.  But you know the chalice was poisoned long before they got to Scotland.

And this last key bit, that I'll ask you to keep in mind:

BISHOP: The first day at Gleneagles, Mickelson and Bradley are playing a par 3, and

Phil comes up to Tom and he says, “Captain, I just want you to know as it relates to the pairings this afternoon, that in the last five years of international team competition, I have only missed five fairways.” Of course, he was lobbying for he and Keegan to play in the afternoon. And they won their match, and obviously Tom plays him in the afternoon. They go out, and they’re just getting hammered. Watson walked up to them on the ninth and he’s got his arms crossed and he looks up at Bradley and Mickelson and he says, “Well, I just have one question. When are one of you guys gonna hit a fairway?” And just walked away. And those guys—they just got pounded. 

Friday night’s loss — a 3-and-2 drubbing courtesy of Victor Dubuisson and Graeme McDowell — led to Watson benching Mickelson and Bradley on Saturday morning. They sat again for their weakest format, alternate shot, that afternoon. It was the first time Mickelson had sat for an entire day in his Ryder Cup career. Prior to the benching, Mickelson and Bradley were 4-1 as a team in Ryder Cup play (and 2-1-1 at the Presidents Cup).

I'll remind that they had played pretty poorly in the morning fourball match, and were lucky to win it.  But they appealed to the Captain to play the afternoon session, and then proceeded to stink up the joint.  I'm not  fan of or an apologist for Watson's behavior as recounted by Ted Bishop, but they got what they asked for and didn't deliver.

So, let's briefly recount Phil's comments at that presser:

Eight questions had been asked and less than nine minutes passed before the camera turned to Mickelson on the evening of Sept. 28, 2014, at Gleneagles. With his teammates spread out to his left on the dais, and captain Watson sitting a mere dozen feet away,

Mickelson was about to change the course of the U.S. Ryder Cup forever. 

“Phil, and anyone else who was at Valhalla,” a reporter started, “can you put your finger on what worked in 2008 and what hasn’t worked since?” 

Mickelson paused, then spoke carefully for two minutes, although if felt like an eternity. (The body language of Hunter Mahan, who was sitting next to Mickelson, proved as much.) While he never looked in his direction nor mentioned Watson by name, 

Mickelson’s glowing praise of Paul Azinger, who’d lead the Americans to victory six years earlier at Valhalla, spoke volumes. “He got everybody invested in the process…. We were all invested in each other’s play…. We had a real game plan,” he said, before finishing. “Unfortunately, we have strayed from a winning formula in 2008 for the last three Ryder Cups, and we need to consider maybe getting back to that formula that helped us play our best.”

And this little gem:

Twenty-three more questions were asked that night. Mickelson answered 10 of them. He refused to admit that he was taking a jab at Watson or his leadership style. “I’m sorry you’re taking it that way,” he told a reporter. But his most damning six words were these: “Nobody here was in any decision.”

On Friday he used his position as the elder statesmen to get Watson to change his plans and play them in alternate shot, but by Sunday he had no input into any of the decisions made.  And Josh has both elements in his story, yet fails to highlight the rather outrageous lie that Phil told.

Let me digress for a second and note that I always thought that Tom Watson would be an awkward fit for the rather coddled modern player.  And there are plenty of quotes from folks such as Zach Johnson that confirm that rather obvious insight, though without the obvious animus of Phil. 

So why do I find Phil's comments so odious that I'm still over-reacting four years hence?  Because:

1. It was the wrong time and venue;
2. The wrong message;
3. The wrong messenger.  

1. This all came down in the post-match press conference, when the range of acceptable comments runs approximately from "They played great" to, well, "They played great".  Not only is it pretty bad sportsmanship, but it creates an unbelievably tense environment for all involved.  Anyone not buying this should watch Hunter Mahan's body language, no doubt he regretted his choice of seat.

2.  Reread Phil's comments and you'll see that they essentially distill to a plea to be treated like delicate flowers with the team room functioning as their safe space.  We can't possibly play well if we don't have our pods or ping pong table, and a captain to dole out the participation ribbons.  

3.  Phil's Ryder Cup record is 18-20-7, though as he sat behind the dais in Auchterarder it was 16-19-6.  If he wants to know why they got saddled with their grandfather as a coach, perhaps he should consult the nearest mirror?

Watson chose to not defend himself, either at the presser or in the aftermath, though this from the presser is basically his defense:

Watson, sitting silently, was asked to respond to what Mickelson said of Azinger. “I had a different philosophy as far as being a captain of this team,” he said. “You know, it takes 12 players to win. It’s not pods. It’s 12 players.”

Yeah.  

Josh's piece is rife with triumphalism, that the Ryder Cup Task Force Committee Supreme Soviet has changed our fortunes, and the proof of this is.... well, Hazeltine.  I tend towards the cynical, but aren't we supposed to win the home games, especially against a cyclically weak European squad?

I know, it's a process....  I guess I'm happy for Davis Love that he somehow didn't get tarred with the Medinah Meltdown?  Like most, I'm not sure exactly what he did wrong, though don't we have to conclude that the guys weren't ready for Sunday?  

I don't have a big problem with those measures implement by Phil's cabal, but that's mostly because that which they've done is comically small ball.  Pushing the picks a few weeks later?  Although, even there I think it's been over-thought, and delaying that last pick is more trouble than it's worth.  

Now I can see what it's done for Phil....  Talk about your win-win, it allowed for his retribution against the mean Tom Watson, but also distracted from his own performance issues.   As important, he didn't really have to sweat bullets over his selection as a captain's pick, did he?

It was a temper tantrum masquerading as insight, and it galls me that the golf world has seemingly drunk the Kool-Aid.  While I think the changes are utterly insignificant, I'd have been happy for Phil to make his case to the PGA of America, his peers and the public at a more appropriate time.  But I hate to see petulance rewarded, especially such a self-serving portion.

Now let's see how this wonderful process performs under more exacting conditions, against a stronger Euro team in a road game.  I understand Phil's appeal in a broader sense, and I share more of it than you might intuit.  But this was one of his bad moments, and nothing that happens subsequently will change my assessment.

Back In The Saddle

We are home safely from Nova Scotia, and I might still do a wrap-up post on Cabot.  It's quite a place and I've a few thoughts for which I hadn't previously found time.

There's also a new piece up about the infamous 2014 presser at Gleneagles that I'll save for a stand alone rantalicious post....  and I've already posted on the FedEx Cup format.

But for now, let's work our way slowly back into regularly scheduled programming by catching up on some news that broke while we were away....

Reality Intrudes - Two stories that will put our little game in perspective, the first is one that of course you've heard:

Celia Barquin Arozamena, who completed her college career at Iowa State earlier this year, was killed Monday at a golf course in Ames, Iowa. 

The 22-year-old was found dead Monday morning at Coldwater Golf Links after golfers located a golf bag with nobody around it on the course and law enforcement was called in in regards to the suspicious circumstance. 

Ames police officers found Barquin Arozamena’s body at the course and determined in its investigation that she died after being assaulted. 

Collin Daniel Richards, 22, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Barquin Arozamena, according to police.

I'll not presume to have any words appropriate to this horrific loss of life, only to note that the perpetrator was well known to authorities.  But do read this as well, and I do really feel for that foursome that let her play through only to come upon her golf bag.

Max's Moment - This is a sad story as well, though with redemption at the end.  We'll start at the beginning, this Golf Digest profile of Attica inmate Valentino Dixon, who became a fan in a certain sense, of our game:

Although Dixon has never hit a ball or even stepped foot on a course, the game hooked him when a golfing warden brought in a photograph of Augusta National’s 12th hole for the inmate to render as a favor. In the din and darkness of his stone cell, the placid composition of grass, sky, water and trees spoke to Dixon. And the endless permutations of bunkers and contours gave him a subject he could play with. 

“The guys can’t understand,” Dixon has said. “They always say I don’t need to be drawing this golf stuff. I know it makes no sense, but for some reason my spirit is attuned to this game.”

Crazy, but good on him.  Here's a peak at some of the work:

But here's the redeeming part:

It took about a hundred drawings before Golf Digest noticed, but when we did, we also noticed his conviction seemed flimsy. So we investigated the case and raised the question of his innocence. 

The case is complicated, but on the surface it involves shoddy police work, zero physical evidence linking Dixon, conflicting testimony of unreliable witnesses, the videotaped confession to the crime by another man, a public defender who didn’t call a witness at trial, and perjury charges against those who said Dixon didn’t do it. All together, a fairly clear instance of local officials hastily railroading a young black man with a prior criminal record into jail. Dixon’s past wasn’t spotless, he had sold some cocaine, but that didn’t make him a murderer. 

Golf Digest’s 2012 article led to further national spotlights on the case by NBC/Golf Channel, CRTV.com, Fox Sports, the Georgetown University Prison Reform Project and others. Alongside this, Dixon’s daughter, Valentina, led a grassroots campaign to raise money for her father’s legal fees by selling his artwork online. Still, the gears of the legal system refused to turn. As of Christmas 2017, appeals exhausted, Dixon’s petitions for pardon or clemency drew no response from New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s office. 

But now suddenly, a vacated conviction—which means innocence—a far more lofty legal victory. Why now?

Max seems to me to be unnecessarily modest, as it was his belief and advocacy that got the ball rolling.  There aren't many opportunities to save a life, but he made the most of this.  Alas, the redemption we feel is tempered by the disgraceful performance of the authorities, and the realization that there must be so many more of these cases.

Enough with the downers, onto some truly insignificant nonsense....

Shoot Me Now - Shack's header says it all:

PGA Of America Sifts Through USGA Trash Bin Again And Finds Plenty Of Chances To Visit Congressional, Including A Ryder Cup, PGA

Say by reasons of historical insignificance you owned the rights to one of golf's major's, a goldmine that funds the organization.  However, the event has something of an identity crisis, little to distinguish it from the riffraff of everyday professional golf.  Would you address that problem by taking your event to the abandoned venues of your principal competitor?  

And this is no one-off, as this excerpt from the press release documents:

The landmark agreement will route the Ryder Cup (2036), PGA Championship (2031), KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (2022, ’27), KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship (2025, ’33), PGA Professional Championship (2029) and the Junior PGA Championship (Girls and Boys, 2024) to the Nation’s Capital and Congressional’s Blue Course during a 15-year stretch from 2022 to 2036. Congressional will also host an annual PGA HOPE national event, introducing golf to veterans, for the duration of the contract.

It's the Medinah of the East Coast, one of America's "great golf courses", yet every time we see it it's gotten a substantive facelift.  Though I agree with this from Geoff:

Pencil in a trip to D.C. eighteen years from now for a Ryder Cup, another east coast PGA Championship in 2031, and yet another construction project at Congressional, this time by Keith Foster. At least the last bit of news offers some encouragement.

I'll add one other upside... the course should play better in May and September than in hot, humid August.  Less awful, more accurately....

Not.  Gonna.  Happen. - John Strege is reviewing the resumes of those hoping to replace Johnny Miller:

Love him or hate him, Miller, 71, set a high and entertaining bar, and should he decide to retire after the Ryder Cup, as he has hinted he might do, his will be a tough act to follow. 

The question then becomes, by whom will he be followed? Let the speculation begin.

Several names immediately come to mind and are familiar to golf viewers, and in no particular order include David Feherty, Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo, David Duval, Geoff Ogilvy, Justin Leonard, Colin Montgomerie and even Paul Azinger, currently with Fox Sports.

I think Feherty's stock has actually fallen with his move to NBC, and the couple of times they've put him in the tower he seemed uncomfortable.

The best talent on that list is Monty, who is surprisingly good for such a prickly personality.  But Strege is playing a long game with us, as he's really floating this trial balloon:

So we turned to an authority on televising golf, Terry Jastrow, who emphatically insists there is an obvious choice. 

“The preemptive No. 1 answer to it, which is the home run, I’d launch an all-out assault on Phil Mickelson,” Terry Jastrow said. 

We did not see that coming.

Some of us did, though we're none too pleased about it.  First, as I hinted above, I'm about to write a longer post in which I take our Phil to the woodshed, do if this were a lawsuit I'd have to recuse myself.

But I don't see Phil being interested in the grind for the long terms.  It's quite the grind, requiring more disciplined preparation that is visible to the viewer.  It also requires an immersion into the work of others, which is not something I'd expect Phil to embrace.  So, I'll stick with Monty, and I'll guess that you didn't see that one coming.

Confidentially Speaking - Spared from the tyranny of the week-to-week, last Sunday's Tour Confidential opened with a go-for-the-jugular question:

1. Pairing suitable games and personalities is a key job for Ryder Cup captains (our Jeff Ritter took a stab at this task earlier this week), but so is knowing which players to bench. With just two weeks until the matches commence, who are each team’s weakest links? And how do you see that affecting strategy?

Guaranteed to make enemies, so of course I love it:

Sean Zak: Weakest American…might be Jordan Spieth? The correct answer is probably

Phil Mickelson, but Spieth has struggled this year, as we all know. His one top-10 finish since Augusta came at Carnoustie, where his putting woes were neutralized with easier greens. If I’m looking for someone who should probably sit a match or two, it’s him. As for the Euros, it’s probably Thorbjorn Olesen. He played his way onto the team, but he’s never played under Ryder Cup pressure. I’d expect him to sit out the alternate-shot format (at least on Day 1). 

Alan Shipnuck: I agree with everything Sean said but the funny thing is if Jordan holes a few putts early in his first match and gets his confidence flowing he could turn out to be a dominant force. Given his age I imagine Phil is slated to play only three matches anyway. Europe has six Ryder rookies so it’s tough to single out Thunder Bear. I think Garcia is the key guy for Euro strategy — they want to give him a chance to be the Sergio of old but if his season-long slump continues they can’t go to him too often. So much hangs on how his first match goes.

So much of merit there.  Phil would likely be a weak link if he's put out there in foursomes, but I've been reliably informed that Captain Furyk is his own man and the fact that Phil got him his job.....Oh, never mind.

But it's so true about Jordan and how quickly it could change.... or not.  That's why I wonder if the marriage with Patrick will survive....and, as I've noted previously, I don't think we need to worry too much about Thunder Bear in a home game.

This was probably the only other interesting query:

5. Tadd Fujikawa, 27, became the first male professional golfer to come out as gay, doing so in an Instagram post last week. What kind of influence do you see Fujikawa’s announcement having on the golf world?

At least it's an interesting subject, but to me there was no reaction.....  Which I think is just what we'd like.  

Rather than share more drivel, we'll use this as a segue to Alan Shipnuck's mailbag feature, which was supposed to be a Ryder Cup free zone.  Except, for this:

Does Reed deserve all the hate? Is he just complicated like Bubba? If we give Tiger multiple second chances then don’t we owe it to the other players as well? – Mary (@Mergett1_mary) 

Does Reed get that much hate? I think it’s more like benign eye-rolling, or mild poking of fun. The well-documented estrangement from his family is awkward and unusual but

do fans hate him for it? I don’t feel that; more like it just adds to the widespread belief that he’s a different kind of dude.

Certainly Reed’s life is complicated but he himself is not – he’s a good ol’ boy who loves BBQ, his cowboy boots, his wife, and making birdies. Bubba certainly has more layers. There is a central conflict between Bagdad Gerry, the God-fearing, small-town family man who does lots of admirable philanthropy, and Augusta Bubba, who loves fancy watches, fancy cars and other trappings of success. Add in his social anxiety and attention-deficit disorder and you get some highly unpredictable behavior. Tiger is certainly a template for forgiveness, and I think Reed and Watson benefit – for all their little controversies and gaffes and rough edges, I think both remain pretty popular.

I'll assume that he's accurately reflecting that which he sees out there on tour, though I think he ignores the strong vitriol that we've heard from Patrick's teammates at both Georgia and Augusta State.  That's not nothing....

This one might be most interesting for its choice of photo:

If you could go for a beer with Rory, Jordan, Justin (Thomas, not Rose) or Dustin (Johnson, not Gee) who would it be and why? – @MarkTownsendNCG 

Rory. He’s a great talker, deep thinker and has an edge, but, at the same time, is a pretty relaxed dude.

Yet someone thought this was the very photo to reflect that deep thinker:

Rory does seem like a great guy to have a beer with, even if I don't tend to see him as a deep thinker....

From earlier, but on the same subject:

Looking ahead to next year: Is there more pressure on Rory to win at Augusta or

the Open at Portrush? #AskAlan –@JoshColey 

Portrush for sure. I think part of Rory – maybe a big part – has already accepted that it’s not gonna happen for him at the Masters. For all his firepower, that course amplifies McIlroy’s weaknesses: putting and distance control with wedges. But he’s only going to get one shot at Portrush in what is supposed to be his prime so there will be a ton of pressure on Rory to make a run there.

The headline should be his contention that Rory has given up the ghost at Augusta, which I find hard to accept.  It seems far more likely that Alan has accepted that on Rory's behalf, but I sus[pect the man himself remains blissfully confident based upon his seemingly automatic back door Top Tens.

As for Portrush, that's quite a thing.  Northern Ireland is a very unique little enclave, about which I've learned only enough to know how little I understand.  A home game for such a beleaguered people is beyond our ability to understand, but we should bear in mind that, despite his course record on the track, he's really not one of the better wind players.  I don't know what he expects of himself, but I don't expect much of him there.

This on his tradecraft was good as well:

Do writers prepare advance copy for the deemed likely storylines, or scramble from their existing notes? – Paul (@LiveTweetGolf) 

Yes to both. Assuming we’re talking about game stories at a major, it’s always good to have a plan, and you can bet on the outcome and write a big chunk of your story before the leaders even tee off: what brought the player(s) to this point, thoughts from caddies/swings coaches, scenes and observations that paint a picture of the week, etc. But things usually go pear-shaped and you have to scramble. That’s the fun part!

That's part of the skill set needed, as well as brevity....  A skill you might have noticed lacking in your favorite blogger.

How many major titles does Tommy Fleetwood finish his career with? #AskAlan – Andrew (@a_h_davies) 

I’d put the over-under at 2.5.

I'll take the under, and I might go big.  No disrespect intended, but Tommy will be 28 the next time he tees it up in a major, and could have a really nice career without winning a single one.  Just scroll through a list of the great players with two or one majors and you'll see what I mean.

If Spieth, Koepka, and McIlroy dominated the majors like Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic dominate the tennis majors, would golf be more fun or less? – @David_Troyan 

Both. Dominant players clarify the storylines and help draw in casual fans, because they are attracted to sustained excellence and don’t want to have to do the work to try to appreciate the Frankie Molinaris of the world. I think all of us would love the electricity of Rory going on another big run, and Spieth contending at a major is always high drama, so that would be good fun, too. And the historical element is cool – winning five or more majors gets you into very rarified air. But for us golf nerds, it’s always refreshing when a Frankie Molinari breaks through and we can focus on their particular gifts and backstory.

Well argued.  But one of many reasons why golf is and always will be a niche sport....

As we finish the season: 1. Who is your biggest surprise player, 2. Who is your biggest disappointment, 3. Who will make the big jump next year? #AskAlan – Mark (@cottonmc) 

1. I can’t say Bryson because I’ve been expecting this all along so I’m going with Webb Simpson. I know he’s won a U.S. Open but it had been five years since his last victory and not only did he dominate the Players but he backed that up with strong performances in the majors and fought his way onto a stacked Ryder Cup team. 

2. It has to be Jordan. It seemed like he was battling his game practically every week, which accounts for the zero wins. But twice he caught a little magic and could have salvaged his year but stumbled badly. As electric as that 64 was on Masters Sunday, I can’t get over that Spieth came to the last hole with the green jacket potentially hanging in the balance and a) yanked his drive off a tree and b) missed a do-or-die 8-footer. And then at Carnoustie he made a mess of the final round to kick away the Open. 

3. Matt Wolff. I’m all in on this guy. He’s already got a national championship and has won the first two tourneys of his sophomore year. I think he’ll turn pro next spring (if not sooner) and come out like gangbusters on Tour.

Good stuff and the Wolff kid is generating lots of buzz...  I just wonder if 2019 might be a year or two early for that.....

As for Webb, I very much agree, and it's all the more enjoyable because he's such a good guy and was so unfairly hurt by the timing of the anchoring ban.  Though I'm a bit surprised that his name didn't come up in that question about Ryder Cup weak links.

I'm shocked that this hasn't happened yet:

What’s your opinion on a Ryder-Cup type event for Champions Tour golfers? Langer and Monty vs Freddie and Lehman, et al. ? – @ShootingYourAge 

I love it, because these guys already have so much history at the Cup. The old grievances would add some dramatic tension. And given their already fraying nerve endings, can you imagine the yippy strokes we’d see coming down the stretch? It would be riveting theater.

 Can I recommend Kiawah as a venue?  I guess The Belfry for the away games though, like the Presidents Cup, perhaps we can do away with those.

And lastly:

Based solely on the hype it received going into the round, what course is the biggest disappointment you’ve ever played? #AskAlan – Steve (@_SMisner) 

Augusta National.

No surprise, at least to me.  I'm actually wondering how the women's amateur event to be held there will come off.

I'll leave you there and see you when I see you...