A last minute audible called by Bobby D. has me playing this morning, so I'll just lay a couple of quick reads on you.
An Interesting Loop - Buried deep in the Unplayable Lies archives are my tales of looping for Kent St. Charles, in which I alternately distinguished and beclowned myself. Hey, I had a good excuse for that lost 8-iron... We'll lede today with this man's account of quite the loop:
Over the years, we’ve heard plenty of players recount the unforgettable sensation of playing golf for the first time alongside Tiger Woods. But what’s it like to caddie alongside him? For one man, it was the opportunity of a lifetime — and then it got a bit complicated.
Two weeks ago, Derrick Payne, who owns and operates several Miami-area golf academies, got a call from his friend and business partner Alex Fernandez. Fernandez had a packed teaching schedule coming up and wanted to know if Payne would caddie for his son Jonah, who was hoping to play in his first event as an 11-year-old. Payne doesn’t often caddie for his students — he doesn’t want to appear to be playing favorites — but helping Fernandez is different.
The nine-hole tournament was scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 15. When the field list came out that Tuesday, one name jumped out at Payne: Charlie Woods. That was cool.
Then on Thursday, the pairings came out: J. FERNANDEZ was listed under the same tee time as C. WOODS. At his academy that afternoon, Payne’s mind started to race. What if Tiger would be there? It wasn’t just that Payne was excited about proximity to a celebrity athlete. Tiger Woods, very simply, had changed his life.
You'll no doubt be glad to hear that Tiger was just looper Dad for the day:
After just a few holes, though, walking the fairways alongside Woods started to feel — normal. On some basic level, Payne is used to parents eagerly watching their kids play golf. That’s what Woods was there to do.
“It really just didn’t seem like he was Tiger Woods there,” Payne said. “This was just Tiger, dad.”
So what’s Tiger like as a caddie? Did he say anything memorable? Payne said it wasn’t anything Woods said that stuck out — it was how he acted.
And this:
“He let Charlie play. He didn’t get in Charlie’s way. He wasn’t over there arguing about what club Charlie was choosing, he wasn’t lining him up, saying, ‘Hey, let’s do this or that.’ He stayed back, enjoyed it and let him play golf.”
Of course, it's Tiger and it can't be completely normal, though seemingly not from anything Tiger might have done:
But then one of his friends shared an article with him that featured one of the photos he’d posted: Jonah and Charlie walking in front of him and Tiger. Another article popped up. Then another. ESPN. CNN. The Washington Post. The Today Show. Sports blogs. News blogs. He knew there was general curiosity about Tiger’s son’s game, but this?
“Somebody took it off my page,” he said. “I never had that thought of, ‘Wait a second. This might not be something Tiger wants shared publicly.’ I wasn’t intending to show it publicly.
“People kept asking me, ‘Can we have your picture to use?’ I said, ‘No, no, no.’ I didn’t get Tiger’s permission, after all. But it didn’t matter.” The stories were also inaccurate; almost all of them conflated the photos of the day with a different event, on Aug. 9, which Charlie won by five shots at Hammock Creek in Palm City. (Woods was playing in the PGA Championship that day.)
Payne changed his account from public to private, and his page was flooded with new follower requests, some 4,000 or more. He declined them all. He took down the initial post, which included the now-viral photo of the four of them. He reposted just the photo of him and Tiger, expressing his mixed emotions in the caption.
“I want to apologize to Tiger and Charlie for not being more respectful of their privacy. I just wanted to share with my followers how WONDERFUL and down to Earth people you BOTH are,” he wrote.
Quite the experience for sure, and glad that Tiger can just be Joe Dad. By the way, Charlie is reportedly quite the stick, so that will play out in an interesting fashion I suspect.
In terms of strokes-gained, there has been no player better than Daniel Berger since the PGA Tour’s restart in mid-June. He may not have multiple wins (including a major) like Collin
Morikawa, but as a PGATour.com list revealed on Wednesday, Berger edged out Morikawa in total strokes-gained by 0.676 during the 11-event post-quarantine stretch.
Berger’s red-hot play continued on Thursday at TPC Boston, where he shot a five-under 66 in the opening round of the Northern Trust, the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. It’s his 13th round of 67 or lower in the 18 rounds he’s played since the restart. During that span he’s had a victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge, a T-3 at the RBC Heritage, a T-2 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and a T-13 at the PGA Championship.
But this resurgence of sorts for the three-time tour winner began before the COVID-19 pandemic, starting at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he tied for ninth. He immediately followed with consecutive top 5 finishes at Pebble Beach and the Honda Classic. Since February (and maybe even before that), Berger has played like a guy who belongs at Augusta National this November.
Unfortunately, that won’t be the case for the former Florida State Seminole, as the Masters field was set back in March. The World Rankings were frozen in place, with the top 50 earning entry into Augusta and the other spots being filled via a number of different exemptions. Berger, who was ranked 106th in the world after the Honda Classic, did not meet any of the Masters criteria.
Look, he's currently the 18th ranked player in the world, so obviously he's deserving of a slot. But you can see the logic of how we got here, the ANGC folks appropriately wanting to preserve the slots for those that had qualified for the original April date (and Berger's win at Colonial assuring an April 2021 tee time).
And while the Masters has always overstated their need for a micro-field in order to maintain their golf course, we can't ignore that in the face of November's short days. The slack should be found among the former champions, but we'll see how this evolves. I'd suggest that Mr. Berger consider winning that little event at Winged Foot, as that would make him quite difficult to exclude.
A couple of interruptions have further limited blogging, so these paltry offerings will have to suffice. I'll encourage you to tune into the Ladies' Open from Troon. American Lindsay Weaver is contending, paying with a pushcart and no caddie. Normally you'd expect her to grab a local caddie for the weekend, though it's not clear that can happen under their unique quarantine rules, whereby they're joined at the hip with their caddies... I can't remember the names involved, but one of the girl's caddies is married to another player, but must shelter in place with his client. With no conjugal visits, we can all agree, It's Awkward Out Here™.
The ladies are on the course at Troon. No small thing given the forecast...
Ayrshire 'appenings - It wasn't long ago that Royal Troon's membership included not a single cervix, so there welcome to the ladies this week is progress indeed. Shack has some early week postcards from the girls, invariably involving their most famous three-par:
That's Morgan Pressel and this of the interior of the stately clubhouse is from Christie Kerr:
Here's a better look at the iconic Postage Stamp, what Shack calls 126 yards of wee terror:
He also characterized the advertising placement as aggressive....
Storm Ellen is set to deliver strong winds in the south-west of Scotland over the next couple of days, blowing at a steady 20mph, according to R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers, but gusting up to 45mph at times.
With disruption of play almost inevitable in the first two rounds, Slumbers has already taken the unusual step of sending a note to all the players in a 144-strong field. In a nutshell, he says the “fundamental aim” remains to have an event played over 72 holes but extending it to a Monday finish is not a possibility due to Covid-19 safety protocols.
In the event of a “significant amount of playing time” being lost on the first two days, the number of players making the cut could be reduced from the intended top 65 and ties, something that would be beneficial if the target was to play two rounds on Sunday.
“I don’t think it’s going to be easy for the next two days,” predicted Slumbers, both in terms of the challenge facing the players and the R&A’s team of rules officials. “We are easing the golf course as much as we can to make it as playable because we want a spectacle. But we have not taken the full teeth out of the golf course.”
As I watch while typing, the winds seem nothing like what was forecast. Flags are moving, just nothing out of the expected...
For anyone unfamiliar with this hole, here's the overview from the club's website:
Hole Overview
Originally called “Ailsa” because there is a perfect view of the rocky islet of that name, from the tee. The smallness of the putting surface accounted for the current name when William Park writing in “Golf Illustrated” said, ” A pitching surface skimmed down to the size of a Postage Stamp”.
Much has been written about the famous eighth hole at Royal Troon, aptly named the “Postage Stamp”. The tee is on high ground and a dropping shot is played over a gully to a long but extremely narrow green set into the side of a large sandhill. Two bunkers protect the left side of the green while a large crater bunker shields the approach. Any mistake on the right will find one of the two deep bunkers with near vertical faces. There is no safe way to play this hole, the ball must find the green with the tee-shot. Many top players have come to grief at this the shortest hole in Open Championship golf.
I've previously waxed poetic about this class of short holes, which are difficult because of, not despite, their lack of length. Troon is far from the most exciting of Open venues, but this is indeed a very good hole.
“You just can’t miss the green. I looked down on the right side, the left, and it’s a small – it’s a small green and beautiful hole, and it’s short. The yardage is very short, but can’t underestimate that wedge shot and you can’t. … I feel like you can’t get too greedy and you just have to hit the green.”
Yes, you just have to hit a green that's notable for being impossible to hit. And the allure of these shorties is that the greens are invariably so small that hitting them on the second shot isn't to be take for granted.
If you'll recall last week's focus on pace of play, I'm pleased to report that the first group will play at an appropriate speed. How can I be so sure?
In her 40th appearance in the event, Laura Davies has been handed the honour of hitting the opening shot. “The condition of the course is about as good as I reckon you could have a links golf course,” she reported. “I said to a couple of girls I was practicing with this weeek that they are the best links greens I’ve ever putted on. They really are unbelievable.”
As well as admitting it was an “honour”, she admitted that being out first had other benefits. “More importantly, you get a clear golf course, and I’m looking forward to not waiting on people,” added Davies of not having to worry about slow play, something that raised its ugly head as rounds took more than five hours on the final day in last week’s warm up, so to speak, at The Renaissance Club.
I've been reliably informed that there's nothing like a Dame, and in this case I can't help but agree.
Ewan Murray seems the sort to worry about offending anyone, az rare trait in the sycophantic sporting press. Here he raises that most awkward of questions, to wit, if we're able to hold the Ladies' Open, why exactly aren't the men playing?
“Those were pretty dark times, weren’t they, in late March, early April,” said Martin Slumbers,
the R&A’s chief executive. “There were bigger issues for the world to worry about and still are bigger issues to worry about. I think at that time we were struggling to see how any golf was going to take place, certainly at the top level. Right through it we wanted to take as much time as we possibly could on the women’s event. We wanted to see where everything developed, and all along, I have felt this sort of deep responsibility to stage this.
“I have been committed about women’s and girls’ golf since I arrived in St Andrews. Taking control of this event made me more determined to wait as long as we possibly could and see how the world evolved. When I sit here today on the eve of it teeing off, albeit with some pretty dreadful weather forecast for the next couple of days, it was a great decision. I think there’s a wonderful sense of excitement.”
Well played, Sir. No Open Championship because of your commitment to women's golf...got it. Though, how exactly does that work?
Her Mr. Slumbers meanders dangerously close to the truth:
Slumbers admitted the rescheduled men’s Royal St George’s Open, now set for next summer, might not be feasible with galleries. “I have absolutely no regrets over the decision we made to cancel the Open this year,” he said. “It was not possible for us to do it. One hopes that the world is going to be in a better place come next season, but if it’s not, we will absolutely assess a behind-closed-doors Open Championship as one of the options come July 2021.”
Heh, that's a good one. I get that it wasn't possible, but methinks though doth protest too much. What was not possible was cashing the insurance check AND hosting the Open, and understand your priorities....
I have little use for said R&A these days, but at least there's some good news from them as regards future venues for this event. Those are as follows:
2021 – Carnoustie
2022 – Muirfield
2023 – Walton Heath
2024 – St Andrews
2025 – Royal Porthcawl
That 2022 venue will garner reactions, as they were the last holdouts on the issue of women members.
There's little doubt that links golf is the purist form of the genre, though inevitably no everyone will embrace it eagerly. I've frequently made light of Rory McIlroys inability to play in wind and on firm tracks, illogical given the passport he carries. Here's another entry on that list:
The prospect of Charley Hull ending her wait for a major title this weekend at Royal Troon has diminished after the 24-year-old admitted her indifference towards links golf. Hull risked
offending those immersed in the ancient form of the sport by admitting she will visualise holes at the famous Ayrshire venue lined with trees during the Women’s Open when it begins on Thursday.
“I’m not the biggest fan of links golf,” said Hull. “I like playing with my friends and stuff as a bit of fun but I find it hard to score around sometimes. I like parkland golf courses and American-style.”
Pressed on why this feeling has developed, Hull explained: “I feel like you can hit good shots and get bad bounces and bad luck. I don’t really feel like you have to be the best ball-striker, you just need to go down the fairway and green and give yourself a putt – then you’re sound – and keep out of the bunkers.
“I just try to picture the fairways being tree-lined because I like really, really tight golf courses. I like to feel like tunnel vision, where this is kind of open and flat and it’s hard to pick your lines because it’s hard to pick out the fairways sometimes. So you’ve just got to be really focused.”
UK passports have been revoked for less, no? But who wants to warn her about the extensive tree-removal programs in the U.S.?
Should be a fun week, though I'm unclear as to how much opportunity I'll have to watch.
Boston Beginnings - When it comes to FedEx Cup fever, I'm at best symptomatic. At worst? Well, you know how I feel about this hot mess.
Joel Beall wants to "Prime" us, and I'm inclined to see if he can trigger any enthusiasm. Take your best shot, Joel:
Player of the Year race
It’s essentially a four-player showdown. Justin Thomas enters as the favorite, with Collin Morikawa trailing just behind and Bryson DeChambeau and Webb Simpson a distant third and fourth. There’s no doubt Thomas has been the tour’s consistently best player this season: Nine top 10s in 15 starts (highlighted by three wins, a runner-up and third-place finish), first in FedEx Cup points, second in strokes gained. The only real knock would be all three wins—the CJ Cup, Sentry Tournament of Champions and WGC-FedEx St. Jude—were limited-field events (to be fair, that only really applies to the 34-player TOC). Conversely, one could argue by winning the season’s only major, as well as defeating Thomas in a playoff at the Memorial, Morikawa has the conch heading into the postseason. A FedEx Cup/Tour Championship win (remember, they are one in the same now) would seal POY for either two.
Sorry, I nodded off there for a sec... Really, you think we should care about POY in year with maybe one significant tournament? Good luck with that...
But Joel digs deep:
Spieth Watch
By storyline conceit bylaw—season previews, major rundowns—we are required to mention Jordan Spieth and his pursuit of revival. We are not selling our beach house on Spieth Island yet ... but we’re seeing plenty of neighbors put their properties up for sale.
In one sense, Spieth isn’t floundering; he’s made the cut in 14 of 16 events, and was in contention at Colonial heading into the final round. In that same breath, he’s 175th in strokes gained/off-the-tee, 116th in approach and 106th in SG/putting, with the weekends proving particularly troublesome (174th in Saturding scoring, 159th on Sunday). Most believe Spieth’s resurgence remains a matter of when, not if, and Spieth has continued to preach patience, insisting he’s seeing positives and it's all part of the process. But 100th in the FedEx Cup standings, the Texan will need a strong week at TPC Boston for the process to make it to Chicago.
Yes, there are still Spieth dead-enders, but they're far thinner on the ground than they used to be.
Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from the Northern Trust, putting an end to his 2019-’20 season.
Koepka cited lingering knee and hip issues as the reason for pulling out at TPC Boston. The 30-year-old has dealt with health problems going back to last fall, when he underwent a knee procedure the day after the 2019 Tour Championship. He continued to be plagued with pain, withdrawing from multiple Asian Swing events and passing on the Presidents Cup.
Koepka has publicly teetered on the status of his health. At times he stated his body felt fine, but there were also admissions in February and July that his knee continued to be problematic, and he underwent an MRI on Monday of Memorial week.
Shutting it down for the remainder of the year seems wise, though the year in question isn't what one might assume:
Koepka’s next likely appearance will be at the U.S. Open, which begins on Sept. 17 at Winged Foot. Koepka won the event in 2017 and 2018, and finished runner-up at the championship last summer.
This guy seems able to discern that which actually matters:
Though I'm guessing that header resulted in a phone call from a PVB suit and a donation to charity.
This guy perhaps not so much:
Tiger Woods has committed to next week’s BMW Championship at Olympia Fields outside Chicago, the second of three FedEx Cup playoff events, setting up the possibility of playing back-to-back-to-back weeks for the first time since September 2018.
Woods made the announcement on Wednesday, a day before he’ll tee it up in the Northern Trust at TPC Boston, where he's had success in the past. Woods won the 2006 Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston and finished second there in 2004 and 2007.
He'll push himself in back-to-back weeks for the FedEx Cup, but not to be prepared for the PGA? What's wrong with this picture?
Mike Bamberger has an invaluable contribution to make, his version of how great these three weeks could be:
East there, cowboy. You're venturing dangerously close to something that might actually be interesting, and we can't have that...
The column is in the form of a letter from Jay Monahan to the plebes, and it does include this legally-required slam:
Gentlemen:
Congratulations on qualifying for this year’s FedExCup, which will conclude our wraparound 2019-’20 season, as best I know. Although we do have two major events still to be played this
year, the U.S. Open and the Masters. So I’m not sure exactly how this calendar accounting works.
It’s been a trying year but together we have persevered. #lifeinthebubble.
Some of you have posed challenging questions to me and other PGA Tour officials about how FedExCup points are awarded and its payout system as well. The question I get most is, “How does it work?” I do not regard it as a positive that some of our own people, here at HQ, feel compelled to call Steve Sands for various clarifications.
It's not Sands' fault, but I think this will be his lasting image among golf fans.
I'll just give you a taste of what Mike has in mind:
III. The traditional 36-hole cut is not in place for any of the three playoff events. Each of the first 10 rounds will bring both excitement and heartbreak via a new system proposed here. The medalist (or joint medalist) from each of the first 10 rounds is guaranteed to play all 216 holes. That’s the exciting part.
As for the heartbreak, after each of the first 10 rounds, players shooting the worst eight scores, plus ties, will be eliminated from the playoffs. However, if you are an Untouchable, or a Daily Winner, even if you are among the bottom eight, your home for each round is secure.
It’s a playoff, people.
He envisions a high-stakes shootout, which would be glorious... Great minds truly think alike.
Chances of this ever happening? Asymptotically approaching nil...
Money, money, money. A veteran industry insider recently wondered aloud how the Tour could continue dabbling in such massive numbers at a time when the coronavirus has threatened to cripple the world’s economy. The Tour itself laid off 50 or so employees last week, many of them longtime staffers. Eleven of the 49 events on the 2019-20 schedule have been canceled due to COVID-19, costing the operation tens of millions in title-sponsor revenue and perhaps as much from ticket sales and onsite corporate support.
It’s enough to leave you wondering how the Tour could have the gall even to stage its little playoff series this year. This deadly pandemic has forced everyone to wear masks at the grocery store. So many people have died, so many others have lost their jobs, and we’re gonna spend the next three weeks slicing up a $60 million pie?
The answer to it all is unbearably simple: business is business. Short of World War III, there’s no way the Tour will reduce purses or compromise relationships with its most valuable partners, notably FedEx. Such backpedaling would be conceived as a sign of weakness. Public perception is important, but it doesn’t pay the bills and it sure as hell doesn’t cover the $1.35 million awarded to Daniel Berger for his victory at Colonial.
I have no clue how this is perceived in the world at large, though I've been surprised that the Tour hasn't felt compelled to boost the charitable side of this...
Of course my larger issue that it's such a dreadfully soulless event, with no actual sporting interest. I'm numbed to the money after all these years and, as we all understand, girls just wanna have fun.
I shall leave you here and we'll pick things up tomorrow.
In which your humble blogger pretends to care about the FedEx Cup playoffs.... Hey, I didn't say it would be a convincing performance, just that I would try.
Live Under Par, At Least While You Can - Really, I'm going to play this straight, leading with this infomercial from Golfweek:
How does it work? I think there's a superfluous word, the more profound question being does it work?
The PGA Tour season has felt disjointed thanks to a prolonged break due to the coronavirus pandemic, but after Jim Herman won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday, the 2019-20 regular season concluded.
Last year, Patrick Reed won the first event in the re-formatted FedEx Cup playoffs, the Northern Trust at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey. This year, the event has picked up stakes and moved north on I-95, and now TPC Boston is hosting the first round of the 2020 postseason.
The playoffs will look and sound different this year because there will be no fans lining the fairways at the tournaments, but there are millions of dollars on the line every week.
Here is everything you need to know about the playoffs and how the next three weeks will work.
It is very much an infomercial, so it seems unsporting to be critical. But discredited seems apter than disjointed.
And don't forget this little bit of madness that they rolled out last year:
Round 3 – The Tour Championship
The PGA Tour’s season-ending event will once again take place at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Thirty players will qualify for the event, and there will be no cut, but the Tour Championship will have a unique start.
After the conclusion of the BMW Championship, the golfer ranked No. 1 on the FedEx Cup point list will start the Tour Championship with a score of -10, a reward for accumulating the most points throughout the season.
Based on where the other players rank on the point list, they will start between two and 10 shots behind the leader.
leading to this, perhaps the oddest statement ever made about a golf tournament:
Once players are assigned their starting scores and play begins at the Tour Championship, FedEx Cup points become meaningless.
Once players are assigned their starting scores? Just let that rattle around in your head for a while... I assure you it doesn't get any better.
One still needs to be in it to win it, so this might be of interest:
Surprising perhaps, but only if you've been self-quarantined. On Mars:
2. Charl Schwartzel
I can’t think of anyone else on the PGA Tour who notched two top-5 finishes in 2020 and didn’t
make the playoffs, but Charl Schwartzel did just that when he missed the cut at the Wyndham to fall from No. 125 to 128 in the standings.
The actual act of seeing Schwartzel is also particularly top-of-mind because he cut such a distinct figure at the 3M Open, where he showed up with a cowboy/sun hat that emitted some serious retro vibes.
Schwartzel finished T3 at the 3M, and he finished T5 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this winter. But it’s been more famine than feast the rest of the way, with seven missed cuts in his other 10 PGA Tour starts this season. Here’s hoping for good health and superior sun protection for Schwartzel when the Tour begins anew.
Well, the only relevance Charl has provided this year is that his 2011 Masters win was the most commonly cited comparison for the rugby-scrum finish at Harding Park.
As for this guy, I am simply relieved to have him leave town without another incident:
1. Sergio Garcia
The most surprising name to find below the 125 line is that of Sergio Garcia, the seemingly ageless Spaniard who remains No. 43 in the world but just No. 135 in the FedEx Cup after a T66 at the Wyndham this week.
Garcia’s lackluster season finish can be attributed to a few things. For one, he played just 12 qualifying events. For another, some of his best recent play has come across the pond, including five top-10s and a victory in his European Tour starts since last year’s FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Overall, Garcia just hasn’t contended enough to rack up those points. He’s made plenty of weekends, surviving 10 of 12 PGA Tour cuts, but logged just one top-30 finish: a T5 at the RBC Heritage.
Interestingly, Garcia remains among the Tour’s best drivers, ranking 3rd in strokes gained off the tee and 6th in strokes gained tee-to-green. He was above average around the greens, too — until he got onto the greens themselves. His rank of 202 in strokes gained putting beat just nine players.
One thing is for sure: We’ll see plenty more of Sergio Garcia — as well as the other names on this list — just not in the next few weeks.
There is an interesting question buried herein. When Sergio broke through and won his Masters, it was assumed by most that that would "open the floodgates" for the Spaniard. The reality has been just the opposite, despite the obvious happiness in his personal life combined with that Masters, he has instead become increasingly petulant and he's played poorly and seemingly without much interest in the proceedings.
But at this point why would we be surprised?
The more interesting aspect by far is the number of players who have made the first cut, but aren't as of now qualified into the BMW. Those ranking just the wrong side of 100 includes Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey, Brandt Snedeker and Justin Rose, among other notables. Tiger is better off thanks to ZoZo, but at No. 49 needs a high finish to revisit East Lake, as does his BFF Phil (No. 66). In theory, that provides a reason to tune in this week. In theory...
As for this one, you'll immediately recognize the over-sell:
Odd perhaps, but the adjective "fascinating" has not heretofore been used to describe these proceedings...
Life in the PVB Bubble - Shack has some interesting links up as relate to the Tour's operations and finances, and we'll do our best to make sense of the sketchy details. He links to this Alex Miceli piece on those layoffs from the Tour's staff:
Lost amid the coverage last week of the PGA Championship in San Francisco were dozens of
layoffs at PGA Tour headquarters across the country in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
According to sources, 40-50 staffers among nine departments at the PGA Tour had their jobs eliminated as a cost-cutting move because of reductions in revenue related to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Commissioner Jay Monahan, in a video address to his staff, said the negative impact on revenue without spectators and hospitality income since play resumed in early June and projected through the end of the year will total more than $90 million.
At the same time, the Tour must shoulder the unbudgeted expense of implementing a health-and-safety program, which further erodes the bottom line.
I don't remember when they released that news, but my first reaction to this item is sadness that this is one business that can't avail itself of the traditional Friday afternoon bad news dump, because they'd be stepping on their own product.
Alex has some more context for us:
The PGA Tour, with more than 1,000 employees worldwide, is a big business, with the primary job of providing playing opportunities for its members, e.g., the guys whom you watch on TV.
Within days of the Tour’s suspension of play March 12, Monahan agreed to forgo his salary, which was $3.9 million, including bonuses and incentives in the Tour’s latest available tax filing, from 2017. Other top officials took salary cuts, too, but that fiscal discipline was not enough to offset the massive drop in income. Thus, as with any chief executive at a big company, Monahan needed to take further reductions in expenses. The Tour reportedly did not accept federal money under the Paycheck Protection Program that was designed as a direct incentive for businesses to keep workers on the payroll.
Think there's any fat in this organization? It's unclear why Miceli is citing those 2017 numbers, when Geoff had no problem finding the 2018 updates:
The 2018 numbers also show a jump in Monahan’s salary from the $3.9 million number cited by Miceli to $6.73 million. Other compensation figures impossible to ignore.
I think we can all agree that the man that created that Chainsmokers concert would be cheap at half the price.
Now we get to the irony, always my favorite part. You know how folks haven't been in their offices lately? And we're kind of wondering whether they'll ever go back? This would be an awkward time to be finishing a massive office building, no?
It would be easy for cynics to point at the massive new headquarters building under construction in Ponte Vedra Beach, which will consolidate the 17 buildings that house Tour employees, and ask why that project can’t be halted to save money.
The 187,000-square-foot, $65 million building, which is scheduled to be finished by the end of the year, was designed as an adaptive office space, with an open-concept approach that will give 700 employees a better working environment.
According to sources, a halt in construction would cost the Tour more money than it would take to finish the project.
Can you say Edifice Complex? I thought you could...
Ultimately Alex asks a question that's been very much on my mind:
So, why jettison so many employees and not reduce the tournament prize money? As at many other big companies, moving money from one area to another can be difficult. At the tour, each tournament contract spells out how much the purse will be worth, with incremental raises often part of the contract.
Even if the purses were to be reduced, any savings likely would return to the sponsor, which pays a large percentage of the prize money. But what sponsor would want to reduce a purse and potentially damage the depth and quality of the field?
I don't feel compelled to link it to those layoffs, but why are they playing for the same purses given an obvious decrease in revenues? Shack links to this reader letter that rebuts Miceli's analysis:
The 2019-20 PGA Tour season began with $375 million in prize money plus another $70 million in FedEx bonus money. Is Miceli saying that if the purses were cut 10 percent, to nearly $340 million, and the bonus pool were reduced to $60 million or so, that it would create a lesser field? That Rory McIlroy wouldn’t play in the Canadian Open because first-place money is $130,000 less than the $1.37 million that he won last year? A $45 million haircut from purses could cover 50 mid-level Tour staffers and health protocols until spectator things get back to normal.
But where Miceli is way off base is defending commissioner Jay Monahan's position on why he had to do these layoffs. Monahan states that the Tour will lose more than $90 million in revenue for the year since March. The same 2017 tax filing that Miceli used to show the $3.9 million commissioner's "foregone" salary (which, according to that tax filing, represents only a part of his total salary), the Tour's total revenue for that fiscal year was $1.47 billion. That $90 million loss of revenue represents less than 7 percent of the total revenue for that year. If you offset that $90 million loss of revenue with the $56 million in operating surplus (using the same 2017 tax filing), the Tour needs to cover only $34 million, or about 2.5 percent of total revenue. A financial officer in a business venture with $1.47 billion in total revenue should be able to carve out 2.5 percent standing on his head, without layoffs.
That last sentence is about as meaningful as this:
But the larger point has merit, and I'm surprised that purses haven't been ratcheted sown a bit, either because of the reduced revenue or to fund larger charitable contributions.
As Shack points out, they've cut to the bone for sure:
—Paul Johnson, EVP of International Tours, raked in $2.8 million overseeing those cash cows, the PGA Tour China, PGA Tour LatinoAmerica, PGA Tour Canada and the MacKenzie Tour.
—Ed Moorhouse, who retired at the end of 2017, raked in more than anyone for 2018, including the Commissioner, with a whopping $7.6 million retirement gift.
Oh, the inhumanity!
Before we move on, there could well be some buried good news:
I told you some good would come from this pandemic...
This is SWK at the Wyndham:
The end of an era? The reader is encouraged to insert his own "Mashed Potatoes" or "In the Hole" joke here...
So, where will they turn for a new killer slogan? Geoff recommends they go retro:
I’m struggling to see how Live Under Par can resurface anytime soon. So grab yourself some Club Pro Guy Live Under Net Par gear and say a prayer for all the LUP merch that’s off to the landfill.
Meanwhile, sources confirm to GeoffShackelford.com that 20-year-slogan “These Guys Are Good” retired to St Augustine last year once the shock wore off. The same sources say TGAG looks to be slim, tanned and ready to resurface to appear on ad breaks during tournaments we’re already watching.
The CPG stuff I had forgotten, but was quite amusing at the time. TGAG is about the best advertising slogan one could ever imagine, so it makes perfect sense that Jay would feel compelled to put his own indelible mark on the organization.
Life During Wartime - Alan Shipnuck has a delightful feature on golf during World War II, though I think it badly misses the mark. He tries to equate our lockdown and the resulting closure of golf course in the Spring to WWII, and that is quite the stretch. Sure, a bad year of seasonal flu is just like that existential struggle of Good v. Evil, especially since Good was 4-down after six holes...
But there are moments. You know how Republican Presidents are routinely criticized for playing golf? That turns out to not be a new thing:
Golf has been woven into the collective memory of World War II since the very first moments when the U.S. was attacked at Pearl Harbor. The commander in chief of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet,
the memorably named Husband E. Kimmel, was an ardent golfer, and he was getting dressed for his regular Sunday-morning game at the Fort Shafter golf course when the first bombs began raining down upon Pearl Harbor. Kimmel’s flat-footed response would become part of the lore of the Day of Infamy, and the 2001 film Pearl Harbor took the liberty of placing the admiral on the golf course — in swanky saddle shoes and a plaid vest, no less — as the attack unfolds. It was the ultimate indictment.
So, did he get his game in? This was pretty good as well:
As the U.S. immediately plunged into war, golf ’s stewards carefully framed the sport as a kind of patriotism. Shaping policy was John Kelly, the assistant director of civilian defense in charge of physical fitness and, felicitously, a member of Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia, known for his breakneck pace of play. In a letter to the USGA days after Pearl Harbor, Kelly wrote, “Eight million people will be going into the armed forces. My job is to look after the 124 million who won’t or can’t go. They can keep fit by playing golf. France was the most physically inactive country in the world and look what happened to them.”
At least he didn't call them cheese-eating surrender monkeys... So we couldn't find a pushcart available. but they had more profound supply issues:
Seven decades later, Kelly’s letter was cited in some quarters as the debate raged as to whether or not golf courses should stay open amidst shelter-in-place orders. And the past is always prologue: Just as modern Americans hoarded toilet paper in the face of Covid-19, duffers at the dawn of World War II made a run on golf balls, knowing they were sure to become scarce. On December 17, 1941, the federal Office of Price Administrations announced a rationing plan for civilian use of rubber products. The next morning, the Abercrombie & Fitch store in New York City was cleaned out of 24,000 balls — its entire inventory — and across the nation golfers similarly stocked up on the most precious of commodities. Factory-refurbished used balls became such a thing that Gene Sarazen used one in the second round of the 1942 Masters.
I don't thin Alan actually understand the effect of his piece. The comparison with an actual world war, actually only reinforces the pettiness and counter-productive measures enacted during our lockdown. Not only was it completely unnecessary to close golf courses, but given the importance of Vitamin D, it was actually harmful to people.
Sheep Thrills - A couple items on the newst course at Bandon Dunes, The Sheep Ranch. First, this Bill Coore-narrated video flyover of all 18 holes.
It's just a spectacular site, though one with unique challenges... It's the fifth full golf course at the resort, in addition to the 13-hole Par-3 Preserve and the massive Punchbowl putting green.
Bill spends a good deal of time on the Par-3 16th, which looks like this:
BANDON, Ore. — Sheep Ranch, the once-mystical hidden layout that is now a full-fledged course, opened in June to rave reviews that already put it potentially at the top of the Bandon Dunes Resort rotation. But you can’t be legendary without some golfing lore, and SR has its first such story—achieved by a mother of two who plays about six holes a week for giggles with her girlfriends.
Allison Koehnke, a 36-year-old from Salem, Ore., made the first hole-in-one of her life on Friday on the stunning, cliffside par-3 16th hole on Sheep Ranch. It was her first full round of golf she played this year. But it gets better …
She did so from 102 yards with her PUTTER, swinging it as if she was punching a wedge. And still it gets better …
As her ball made its way onto the green, it caromed off the golf ball of the husband of the couple with whom they were traveling and playing. Somehow, from there, it had the right trajectory to find the bottom of the cup. And finally, the topper …
Allison’s husband, Drew, got it all on video with his phone, preserving the feat for them and the social media world to enjoy forever.
You'll have to click through to view it, and it's hard to make out anything the ball actually does. I was amused by her adjustment of the height of her ball on the tee, as well as the caddie's reaction at the end.
The playing of Par-3's with only a putter is not uncommon in links golf. In fact, one of golf's most famous one-shotters, the Eden hole (No.11) at the old course was criticized by C.B. Macdonald for that very fact. That didn't stop him from using it as a template, though his designs invariably do not allow the holes to be played with that club only.
You're not likely to see me tomorrow, but let's plan on spending a little time on Thursday.
I only got in a wet nine holes yesterday, but then settled in to binge watch the links golf. Both from East Lothian and the Pacific Northwest. My viewing choices notwithstanding, we'll keep the usual pecking order in our wrappage.
Dateline: Greensboro, NC - Had I known that this guy would back up his Saturday 61, I would certainly have tuned in. Just, you know, to see the heads exploding:
Who could have dreamed that Jim Herman would have outlasted Sedgefield Country Club’s big three of Si Woo Kim, the 2016 champ and 54-hole leader, Webb Simpson, the 2011 winner and all-
time leading money winner of the Wyndham Championship and Billy Horschel, who has shot par or better in 23 consecutive rounds here, on Sunday?
Herman was in the midst of a forgettable season, ranking No. 192 in the FedEx Cup this season. He needed to finish no worse than second this week or his season was over. His best finish? Solo 27th at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions against a 30-man field. He had missed the cut in eight of his last 11 starts. The only golfer who Brooks Koepka beat in the final round of the PGA Championship last week when he shot 74? It was Herman, who finished T-77.
“Usually that’s a good stat, you know, with Brooks,” Herman said. “He’s usually at the top.”
Because he has all the wrong friends... But no need to go there now.
As is often the case, this seems triggered by a putter change:
Herman, 42, made one critical switch this week, changing to a Bettinardi putter he’d used before and going to a cross-handed putting grip. It did wonders as he holed 444 feet of putts this week and rankled third in Strokes Gained: Putting. The short stick has always been Herman’s bugaboo. He used the claw putting stroke when he won the Shell Houston Open in 2016 and a conventional grip at the 2019 Barbasol Championship.
“For those that struggle putting, you definitely experiment often. I thought maybe last summer when I putted so well at Barbasol, maybe I was on to something, it would be something that stuck,” Herman said. “Then I was off the putter and out of that style by the end of the wraparound Fall start.”
Rankles? As relates to typos, I'm hardly without original sin, but you'd still think they'd employ proofreaders somewhere in the process.
Of course throwing that shade at Brooksie is quite timely...
And he did it by playing his final 36 holes in 16 under par, equaling the lowest-ever weekend score by a winner in Tour history.
We certainly didn't expect it last week, if only because of the heavy air and loss of distance... But 61-63 on the weekend reallycan't be dismissed that easily.
And while we're throwing shade at those alpha dogs...
Jim Herman now has as many PGA Tour wins over the past 13 months (two) as Rory McIlroy. — Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) August 16, 2020
Our Rors hasn't been much of a factor since the restart... and folks are noticing.
The Tour Confidential panel managed to go one whole week without a Tiger question, though the suits in Ponte Vedra Beach will be upset with the dis to their rousing regular season coda:
World No. 318 (!) Jim Herman fired a final-round 63 to win the Wyndham Championship on Sunday. Herman became the fifth player ranked outside 200 in the world to win on Tour this year (excluding opposite-field events). What does that stat tell you about the state of the Tour in 2020?
Zak: I think it tells you that there are levels to pro golf, and sometimes they just don’t matter.
There’s the level of elite pros in the top 30, who decide generations of legacy, and then there are countless others all vying for a precious piece of the millions. The line between those levels is as blurred as ever.
Shipnuck: It was awesome to watch that old dog get it done hitting all manner of crafty shots. What a clinic in closing! There are hundreds and hundreds of guys who can shoot that low … occasionally. It gives you more appreciation for the top players that they produce that kind of golf so regularly.
Sens: Yet another reminder of how deep the talent runs in professional golf, and how quickly everything can change. How a switch can flip and suddenly a guy who looked lost morphs into a world beater for the week. The shifts don’t just come as a surprise to us fans. You could tell from Herman’s post-round interview what an emotional swing this was.
Bamberger: Jim’s win tells more about Jim than the Tour. In decades of golf-watching I cannot think of another career like his.
It's a young man's game.... except when it isn't. It's so great that a guy like Herman can have some success out there, that we should just enjoy it, but resist the urge to over-interpret it.
It’s a little bit strange that the man who suffered one of the most anxious Sundays at the Wyndham Championships was, in fact, named Wyndham. It’s even stranger that he wasn’t on the course, that he had missed the cut on Friday and was forced to watch from afar as his position on
the FedEx Cup leader board oscillated above and below the 125th spot, the cutoff for making it into the FedEx Cup Playoff. (That is, if he was watching at all; I’ve often thought CBS should have a live feed on the bubble boys who miss the cut, kind of like how you can see college basketball teams rejoice and deflate as they watch their fate on Selection Sunday.)
Who were Wyndham Clark’s opponents? Abstractly, you could say he was fighting against math, or the rapidly changing live projections. His true foes, thought, were Rafa Cabrera Bello and Rob Oppenheim and Shane Lowry and Peter Malnati and Tom Lewis and Bo Hoag. Based on how those men performed, Clark, who began the day just inside the projected top 125, would either squeak into the Playoffs by fewer points than you can count on your hand, or fall agonizingly short.
Not to worry, we have a happy ending, though I found this unintentionally amusing:
All this meant that for Clark, his playoff fate came down to Rob Oppenheim. They were in a duel, though it’s likely that neither of them understood it. The battle didn’t make the CBS broadcast, but it was dramatic anyway. Oppenheim, who has never competed in the FedEx Cup playoffs, began the week 145th in points, but if he maintained his second-place position that he held entering Sunday, he’d be 77th in points after an incredible surge up the leader board on Saturday with career-best eight-under 62. Oppenheim was in the final twosome with tournament leader Si Woo Kim. If he could shoot a two-under 68 and reach 18 under for the week, he’d knock Clark out and reach his first playoffs. Following a 62, the odds seemed good. Then again, Oppenheim’s career best finish in 74 PGA Tour starts was a T-8.
Ya got that? It's too convoluted (or boring) for CBS to cover, but we'll just have to take Shane's word that it was dramatic indeed...
Lastly, before we span the globe, there's this for the uninitiated:
You mean, like "Is this really the best you could come up with?" That's my cue to move on...
Dateline: Bandon, OR - Yur humble blogger had great fun settling into his easy chair and watching each evening. It doesn't always happen this way, but the final match delivered the goods:
It was a scene out of fiction, a gorgeously sunny day turned damp and gloomy, the fog having crept onto the cliffs and blanketed the Bandon Dunes Golf Course. In the eeriness, a movie of
Tyler Strafaci’s making was playing in his head. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, visualizing the 4-iron shot that he was about to strike on the 36th hole in the final of the U.S. Amateur Championship.
“I said, "This is your time to hit a winning shot. Go get it,’ “ Strafaci recalled later when darkness had descended on the Oregon coast. “I've done it a bunch of times back home, and I knew I could execute it, and I trusted myself, and I did it.”
Strafaci powered a draw into the mist and exclaimed, “Oh, please be good!” When a handful of onlookers near the green cheered, he knew he’d reached the par-5 hole in two. It was the shot of Strafaci’s life, and in the fog, considering the pressure cooker of the circumstances, it’s likely one of the greatest on a finishing hole in the 120-year history of America’s national championship.
When opponent Charles [Ollie] Osborne, who had fought back in the tremendous match by winning the 16th and 17th holes, couldn’t get up and down for birdie, the 20-year-old from Reno, Nev., conceded the hole and Strafaci took the match 1 up without rolling a final putt.
It was a fittingly dramatic ending to a tremendous contest in which the combatants combined for 25 birdies and one eagle, including concessions. In the morning alone, they would have shot 60 in best ball.
Plus, don't forget the eye candy... Dream Golf and all.
Of note first, is the family history:
Strafaci's father, Frank Jr., who was on the bag this week, was an accomplished amateur player and competed in three U.S. Amateurs, making match play once. But that was nothing compared to Frank St., Tyler's grandfather who died in 1988, 10 years before Tyler was born. Frank Sr. played 16 U.S. Amateurs, reaching the quarterfinals in 1947 and ’49, and then giving Arnold Palmer his best shot in the first round in 1954 before falling to the eventual champion on the final hole at Country Club of Detroit.
Frank Sr. also won the 1935 U.S. Amateur Public Links and played in a pair of Masters and two U.S. Opens, finishing ninth in 1937. After capturing the one championship that his grandpa always wanted to win, the 22-year-old Strafaci will play in three majors in 2021 – the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship.
Golf Channel had this photo of Gramps from back in the day:
Frank Sr. is next to the Babe.
This is another national amateur win the Georgia Tech, actually nack-to-back:
Strafaci is now the fourth Georgia Tech player to win the Havemeyer Trophy, joining Bobby Jones (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930), Matt Kuchar (1997) and his former teammate Andy Ogletree (2019). The Yellow Jackets are the first program ever to have different players win two consecutive U.S. Amateurs.
The TC gang must have tuned in, because they had a couple of issues:
The U.S. Amateur, where Tyler Strafaci edged Ollie Osborne 1 up at wild and wondrous Bandon Dunes, was a blast to watch. The topsy-turvy layouts at Bandon Dunes (match play) and Bandon Trails (stroke play) required players to hit all kind of shots — and in all kinds of conditions. As the 36-hole final progressed Sunday, the fog grew so thick that players struggled to see their tee shots. Any quibbles with the match continuing in such a soupy haze?
Zak: At first I thought no. But then watching Strafaci struggle so much with his lines and distances down the stretch I changed my mind. Though I think at any point he likely could have made a fuss about it. In the end, you’ve been on this course all week. You know it well. You gotta make good swings.
Sens: Not ideal but no quibbles. They played some of the other days in 40-mile-an-hour winds. This is golf in the elements. And both players were dealing with the same conditions. So it goes. You want a guarantee of golf in sunny stillness? Play it in a dome.
Bamberger: The game came out of the fog and the haar and the mist and the ocean. No quibbles, the opposite.
It was right on the edge for sure, but the decision to keep playing was obviously correct. And this on that rules kerfuffle:
Segundo Oliva Pinto, a rising junior who just transferred to Arkansas, lost his quarterfinal match at the U.S. Amateur in stunning fashion when his caddie, a local looper Pinto had hired for the week, touched the sand in a bunker on the 18th hole, leading to an automatic loss of hole and ultimately loss of match. Pinto accepted the defeat graciously but it was a cruel way to be ousted. Related question (whether or not it would have applied in the aforementioned scenario): Should the rules allow players to waive a penalty on their opponent if they feel said penalty is too harsh?
Zak: This is tricky. Because it would have been nice for Strafaci (the benefactor of that ruling) to say, “You know what, that didn’t help you at all.” But then again, if we allow players to waive a penalty, where does that end? Can players play with 15 clubs for six holes if their good buddy they’re competing against is feeling generous? I think it’s a somewhat slippery slope that is avoided simply with: “don’t break the rules.”
Shipnuck: It’s a nice thought but would lead to all manner of anarchy. The rules have to be the rules. Period.
Sens: I had a related thought as this incident went down and I remain torn on the question. I get the purist argument, that rules are rules and to try to parse them in any fashion is a slippery slope. But would it really be so entirely unreasonable for there to be a judgment call brought to bear on a situation like this? Where an official could be brought in to assess the situation and ask, did this really have a material influence on the result? If it had zero impact, is loss of hole really the fairest consequence? I realize that would be tricky. But judgment calls apply in other rulings. Why is it entirely out of the realm of reason for them to apply in a situation like this?
Bamberger: The whole thing is a shame. Of course the caddie should be better trained. In casual golf, you could waive, of course, such a violation by a caddie. Not by a player. At this level, it had to be enforced.
Perhaps Josh wouldn't be so upset if we remind him that Pinto still received his participation ribbon...
How perfect is this moment? Yes, let's bring the governance model of Portland and Seattle to golf, as I think we can all agree that the match had been mostly peaceful. But here's another option, we could just publish a rule book and expect the players to know and adhere to it? Just spit ballin' here, but it's an idea so crazy it could work...
Just a great week at Bandon, which I couldn't have enjoyed more.
Dateline: North Berwick, UK - I didn't watch a bit until the final round, but I'm very glad that I made time for that. Who doesn't love a new Mom finding her game again:
It took a while for Stacy Lewis to grab LPGA career win No. 13. Nearly three years to be precise. A lot has happened to the 35-year-old former World No. 1 between her victory at the 2017
Cambia Portland Classic and her triumph Sunday at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open. Most notably, she and her husband, University of Houston women’s golf coach Gerrod Chadwell, welcomed their first child, Chesnee, in 2018.
“It’s amazing,” Lewis said of winning for the first time as a mom. “The only disappointing thing is that she’s not here to take a picture with this [the trophy], but I have been trying to get a trophy from the day she was born. That’s been my goal. I just called them, got to FaceTime with them. My husband said she was hitting the TV screen with her plastic golf clubs when I made that putt. So it's just pretty cool. I can’t wait to get home with them in a week or so and celebrate.”
She's got business this week in Ayrshire, but that will be a sweet homecoming...
She did it in dramatic fashion, surviving a four-player playoff:
Lewis shot a one-over 72 in the final round for a five-under 279 total at Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. She then made 23-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to claim the title over Azahara Munoz, Cheyenne Knight and Emily Pedersen, who all made pars. The win came with its own milestone: The $225,000 first-place prize puts Lewis’ career earnings over $13 million, making her just the eighth player in LPGA history to reach the mark.
For reasons that are unclear to me, I liked what I saw of Tom Doak's course much more than I did last year, perhaps because it played much tougher (last year's winning score was -20). It certainly was fun watching the ladies managing their way around the course, as par was very much king this week.
Stacey herself has been prone to whining over the years, something I've had cause to call her out for on more than one occasion. In this case she seemed to demonstrate the necessary self-discipline:
Stacy Lewis has never shied away from the issue of slow play. Last year during the Evian Championship, she took to Twitter to call out the near six-hour rounds in France.
This weekend in Scotland Lewis got more specific, calling out her playing competitors for their pace of play at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open.
“I think the biggest challenge for me tomorrow is staying in what I’m doing,” Lewis, “and the pace of play is dreadfully slow, and that doesn’t play into my favor. People I’m playing with are pretty slow.”
If that PGA-Lpga Team event ever materializes, a Jennifer Song-J.B. Holmes pairing seems a natural. Just, you know, put them out last....this bit seems especially wise:
Referring to her caddie, Lewis said: “I told him on the second tee, ‘I’m not allowed to complain
once about the pace of play’ So I didn’t allow it to affect me. I was singing songs in my head, just getting away from everything, trying to pass the time. My daughter, she loves Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off. So that was actually the song that was stuck in my head today.”
The final group took five hours and 16 minutes to complete their round. “It does,” said Lewis of that taking some of the gloss of an enthralling title tussle. “It shouldn’t take that long to play. I knew it was going to; that’s the sad part. I do think an effort needs to be made across the board to play faster. I’m sure it couldn’t have been fun to watch on TV. I’ve been an advocate for changing our pace of play, getting people to play faster for a long time, and we’re still going the other way unfortunately.”
I have a better idea, Stacey...How about you're not allowed to complain about anything? Trust me, it'll work out better for you.
Quick Hits - I'm going to briefly cover a few bits, then release you to your busy day.
Brooks, the Morning After - Some of us wondered in that 2017-19 period about the evolving relationship between Koepka and DJ, including a few who characterized it as Brooks owning DJ's manhood. But I for one forgot the incident in Paris after the Ryder Cup beatdown, in which Tim Rosaforte reported on a fistfight between the Bash Bros. Here's how Brooks responded then:
"This Dustin thing, I just don't get. There was no fight, no argument. He's one of my best friends. I love the kid to death. We talked on the phone Monday and yesterday, so you tell me how we fought. People like to make a story and run with it. It's not the first time there's been a news story that isn't true that's gone out."
But earlier this month, Koepka said his friendship with Johnson “got blown out of proportion because we worked out in the same gym,” with trainer Joey Diovisalvi. “We no longer do that,”
he said.
When asked Thursday whether too much was made of his relationship with Johnson, Koepka told reporters: “You guys make your own stories, so I have no idea what you all do, but I think even the Jordan (Spieth) and Justin (Thomas) thing gets blown out too much. You guys overplay a lot of things.”
I can see where they trusted an unreliable source with that first bit... Elsewhere he said that he's not close to any of the guys out there, and I find that highly believable...
Roarless for Rory? - The Tour Confidential panel led with this silly bit:
Augusta National announced it will conduct the 2020 Masters without fans, on account of the coronavirus. In a statement, club chairman Fred Ridley called the decision necessary but also “deeply disappointing.” Given that the Masters is synonymous with Sunday roars, how much, if at all, will the absence of spectators impact the experience of watching the Masters on TV?
Sean Zak: Boy, it’s gonna be even quieter than normal. Quieter than quiet. With proper boom mic work, though, I think we’ll get clued in to a lot of the player strategy, which is always great at Augusta. Should be crystal clear!
Alan Shipnuck: By then we’ll have had five months of tournament golf without fans, including two majors, so it’ll be old hat. But there is an intimacy at the Masters that will be missed — think about those fans right behind the green at 7, or the tee at 12, or 16, or the amphitheater around 18 green. But it will be awesome to see Augusta National uncluttered. The course is going to look so pure.
Josh Sens: I think it will be extremely strange, even with all the experience we’ll have had by then with fan-free events. With the possible exception of the Ryder Cup, roars help define the Masters more than any other tournament. The sounds are so familiar that longtime viewers can tell a birdie roar from an eagle roar. And we’re all familiar with the TV experience of hearing a roar during the broadcast, then waiting at the edge of our seats to see the highlight of what brought it on. So yeah, very weird. Unbelievably great that the tournament is happening. But it will still be strange.
Michael Bamberger: It’s just so fitting that this golf year will end in this way, completely the opposite of what millions experienced last year. BUT it will surely be a memorable Masters and therefore a good TV show.
I'm actually excited to see the place in its purest state... I would just suggest that we take joy in the fact that we'll have a Masters...
But, as you'll have deduced from my header, I'm thinking this will be Rory's best chance. No distractions and a softer track...
But don't we deserve some kind of explanation here?
Wednesday’s round started out with a 12-foot birdie putt left short in the heart. After draining a 30-footer for birdie on the second hole, Fair rifled one “right of right” out of bounds on the third hole. He made a 20-footer to save par, thinking it could’ve been worse.
Seems to have been a reachable Par-5, on which he made the dreaded second-ball eagle... The golf course is barely 6,000 yards, but still...
I'll wrap it up here, with a few open tabs for tomorrow.
