Monday, April 22, 2024

Weekend Wrap - Five-peat Edition

Quite the dilemma for the golf viewer yesterday, Scottie or Nelly?  I settled the battle of the diminutives in Nellie's favor, as the ladies at least had the sense to get their weather issues out of the way on Saturday....

Seriously, is either of them ever going to lose?

Nelly, Ascendant - This is the Nelly they've been promising us, admittedly derailed by some non-golf issues, including that untimely and scary blood clot.

It's all good now, though what are we to do about this event?

Nelly Korda's record-setting run reaches next level, collecting fifth consecutive victory and second major title

With a leap and a splash, Nelly Korda cemented one of the great runs in LPGA history. After winning the Chevron Championship Sunday with a final-round 69, she continued the tradition of
jumping into the pond next to Carlton Woods’ 18th green. Korda’s two-stroke victory over Maja Stark makes her one of three in LPGA history to win five-straight starts, joining Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05).

"It's an amazing feeling because all the hard work and the doubt that I had in my head from 2021," said Korda, who shot 13-under-par 275 total. "I worked through it, and it's been an amazing feeling these past couple weeks knowing that I can go on this stretch and that if I stay in my bubble and I keep golf in a sense simple and let it flow, then I can have so, so much fun out here. It's just been an amazing time.

Shack has a nice post up at his Quad in which he covers the dark clouds engulfing this reconfigured major, thank you very much, Mr. Ridley./  First, about that weather:

A rain delay situation was inevitable when Chevron decided to move to The Woodlands, Texas from Rancho Mirage. The old Dinah Shore was played for 51 years without a single thunderstorm delay.

That's just an aside in the midst of trashing NBC/Golf Channel, to which we'll return in a sec.  The other broadside was on pace-of-play, of which there was none.  The girl had no easy morning:

Sheesh. Nelly Korda had to grind to earn this one.

The wonderous woman deserves extra Hall of Fame points after the 2024 Chevron Championship put the resounding World No. 1 through a bit of everything.

Granted, finishing off a major is not supposed to be fun, easy or simple. With a historic fifth-straight-win and second career major on the line, her Sunday was already infused with way more pressure than any other player faced.

Korda’s day started with a 4 a.m. Sunday morning wake-up call to complete the delayed third round that soaked Carlton Woods with 1.5 inches of rain.

Crisp morning air greeted Korda early Sunday, never a fun thing for a player who has overcome well-chronicled injuries.

Yeah, ordinary course of business stuff for the kids.  This?  Not so much:

Then, finishing the morning restart having lost her lead and trailing Haeran Ryu by a stroke, Korda opened the final round with a 3-under-par 33 yet still had to fend off a few persistent chasers battling to the last and eagle-friendly last hole.

And most unnecessary of all? One of the game’s fastest players endured a ridiculous six-hour-and-five-minute final round pace.

Who's to blame?  I'm going to go with everyone.... But while approximately no one watches women's golf, you're pretty much guaranteed of losing those dozen viewers if all these see is Nelly munching on a sandwich in the fairway.

Shall we check in with the Tour Confidential gang?  Ummm, that was rhetorical....

1. Nelly Korda did it again, winning the Chevron Championship to claim not only her second major title, but tie the LPGA record with her fifth straight victory. What has most impressed you about her run over the past couple of months, and what’s a realistic number of wins Korda can get to this season?

Dylan Dethier: What most impressed me? Jeez. I guess the variety. Different courses, different regions, even different formats. The match play win sent her to a different stratosphere. And
different pressures! We’ve seen plenty of golfers get crowned and then wither. Nelly has done the opposite.

James Colgan: Lots of options, but perhaps the fact that Nelly was able to extend the streak at a major championship, even feeling all the pressure that came with entering the week on four-straight wins. That shows serious mettle, and not the kind many in the sport are blessed with. That she was able to do so while being the fastest player in the field by a long shot? Well, that was just gravy.

Zephyr Melton: It’s been impressive to watch her mental resolve during this run. In previous seasons, she likely would’ve let a couple of these get away when things didn’t go her way. But the Nelly of 2024 is just different. She’s got the mental game now to go with her sweet swing, and that should be very concerning for the rest of her competitors. As for how many she can win this year, let’s go with eight.

As someone said a week ago about that other Numero Uno, you're not supposed to win when you're supposed to win.

What I fond most interesting were her final four holes, after she had chipped in to build a four shot lead.  She wasn't impervious to that "Holy crap, I'm gonna win this thing" moment, but she was able to steady herself and those last two approach shots were a purity master class.

2. Before the tournament, defending Chevron champ Lilia Vu called Korda “kind of our Caitlin Clark,” adding, “she is bringing so much to the table — just win after win, just having it, having everything together. She’s done such a good job. So well-liked and loved out here. She brings a big following. She’s a great person.” Due to her success, is there more pressure on Korda to bring more eyeballs to the game, and should she feel obligated to do so? Or is there more pressure on the LPGA to take advantage of her run?

Dethier: Yeah, sure, there’s pressure on her to expand the LPGA’s footprint. But her primary job is to stay atop the game. To keep winning. Everything else depends on that. So I think the pressure to capitalize on Korda’s run falls on everyone else whose job it is to make these events feel big big.

Colgan: It’s Nelly’s job to be a voice and ambassador for the LPGA and the advancements the organization plainly needs to make — but she’s been doing that for quite some time now. She’s not responsible for making the broadcasts more compelling or the pace of play faster than (checks watch) six hours. Those are the things keeping the LPGA from having their Caitlin Clark moment.

Melton: There is certainly more pressure, but that’s part of the deal when you ascend to superstar status. And if she keeps winning, it’ll be in everyone’s best interest that she does her very best to elevate women’s golf as a whole. The Tour can do their best to capitalize, but unless Nelly is fully bought in, it won’t work.

If you read my post previewing this event, you'll know that the Caitlin Clark analogy isn't a bad one, but the harder issue is to identify the LPGA's Angel Reese.  In this current moment, there is no other woman golfer with any presence.  For instance, apparently this production line is struggling as well:

Is the South Korean golf boom over on the LPGA Tour?

Except for waiting on Rose Zhang, who else is there?  The aforementioned Lilia Vu is the second-ranked player in the world, and none of us could pick her out of a police lineup.

As promised, here's Geoff's rant about TV windows, echoing themes you've heard here repeatedly:

How low has NBC set its golf broadcasting bar?

Amidst the slog of a final day it felt miraculous that the once-gold standard of golf coverage even bothered to show a major final round championship past the allotted time. The schedule (above) called for signing off at 6 p.m. and covering what was left of the Chevron Championship on Golf Channel. This sad schtick of years past was previously caused by Olympic trials, other obligations, affiliate pressures or contractually committing to doing the bare minimum.

There were two caveats to Sunday’s “miracle” of covering a major sporting event to its conclusion. First, there were no Olympic trials to get to and only infomercials on the West Coast to show. (Sorry Jane Seymour skin care-secret fans. There’s always next week.)

And two, the Comcast-owned mess passed on covering Sunday morning’s third round restart. This, despite having the World No. 1 in quest of a fifth-straight win and second major. But at least this guilted network into sticking with the conclusion later in the day and well past the scheduled time.


This was an obsession of Mike Whan, and I just never understood it.  I get that network coverage is preferable, all other things being equal, except for the niggling detail that all things aren't equal.  There's something to be said for your audience knowing where to find you, especially when the size of that audience isn't sufficient to make the networks give you an appropriate coverage window.  And, needless to say, if the girls are taking 6:05 minutes to play, a three-hour window allows for five holes of coverage (OK, I exaggerate, but just a little).

But if you can't get to the finish line during NBC's window, what are you accomplishing?  When they make that jump you're molting viewers and making it a bit of a clown show.

Nelly should be bring eyeballs to screens, but look what they find when they get there.  Dreary weather, dismal Nicklaus architecture and endless waits between shots....  

Scottie, Deferred - It's an event that I like because of the golf courses, but I like it far more as a low-key post Masters family week.  It's just wrong as a Signature Event Money Grab, only because of where it is on the calendar.

But this guy can have a 36-hole Masters letdown and still lap the field:

Scottie Scheffler will have to wait until Monday to add another colorful jacket to his closet and
become the first reigning Masters champion to win the RBC Heritage the following week since Bernhard Langer in 1985.

One week after Scheffler slipped into the famed Green Jacket awarded to the Masters champ for the second time in three years, only Mother Nature could delay the 27-year-old Texan from winning the Heritage’s trademark Tartan Jacket on Sunday in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Inclement weather suspended play for more than two hours, preventing the completion of play before darkness. Play will resume on Monday at 8 a.m. ET.

“I’ll treat tomorrow like I’m playing 18 holes and do all my normal prep work and come out here ready to go for the restart,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler was 4-under through 15 holes in the final round and 20-under overall when play was suspended due to darkness, and five shots ahead of Wyndham Clark (65) and Patrick Cantlay (who is just off the 18th green playing his third shot) in his bid to win for the second straight week and for the fourth time in his last five starts. JT Poston (thru 17) and Sahith Theegala (thru 15) are also tied for second.

Not even a golf course you'd pick as suiting his game, but he's the best player by a lot on a massive heater, so what can get in the way?

So, you're saying there's a chance?

3. Just one week removed from his second Masters win, Scottie Scheffler is closing in on his fourth PGA Tour victory of the season, as he’s got a five-shot lead with three holes to play at the RBC Heritage, which will resume at 8 a.m. ET on Monday. Win or lose this week in Hilton Head, he’s continued to prove he’s on another level. When he’s at his best, is it better than anyone’s “best” since peak Tiger Woods? Or have some of his accomplishments been diminished since some top players left for LIV Golf?

Dethier: I know that everything is politics now and everything is divisive and kinda stinks as a result, but I’d love for us to keep Scottie’s current run outside that framework. That doesn’t mean
I want everyone to root for him — that would be really boring — but for at least a few days, I want to just stand back and admire the outrageous run he’s on without worrying about TV ratings, LIV rumors or what this means for the product. Anyway, he’s been really good.

Colgan: Comparison is the thief of joy. Rory had a great peak. Jordan Spieth had a great peak. Brooks had a nice stretch there. But what Scottie’s doing now — and the unbotheredness with which he’s doing it — is, well, joyful. And if he keeps this up, in a few more months, there may not be room for debate.

Melton: Yes he absolutely is. And the LIV argument would hold a little more weight if Scheffler hadn’t just dusted their top talent at the Masters last weekend. I don’t care who lines up against Scheffler these days, he’s probably going to beat them.

Forget LIV, the bigger issue is that, to placate Cantlay, Scottie had to beat seventy fewer players this week.

To this observer, the biggest PGA Tour story is that, having cleared to rubble for the Cantlays and McIlroys of the world, they haven't shown up.  The former is T2 before the tee off this morning, so they have continued to make bank, without the need to play very well.  Somehow, in their convoluted minds, that's supposed to appeal to viewers.  Instead, they're molting viewers....

What's It All About, Alfie? - Shall we try to explain to them how this works?

 Just spitballin' here, but I think it means that fewer people tuned in....

Just to clear, it wasn't just the Sergio dead-enders that were crushed when he missed the cut.  They lost quite a few viewers:

CBS’s latest report showed that 9.59 million average viewers tuned in to Scottie Scheffler’s Sunday triumph. That qualifies as … well less than 10 million. And even if out-of-home viewing data was down, it doesn’t account for a drop of nearly 2.5 million viewers from Jon Rahm’s 2023 victory.

It's amusing to hear the guys whistling past the graveyard:

"I am surprised by that, to be fair," said Matt Fitzpatrick, the defending champion at Harbour Town. "Obviously you've got everyone playing together, like everyone wants, and the viewership's down. But, yeah, it's bizarre. I think, for me, speaking to people at home and stuff, people are fed up with hearing about the money. I think that's the biggest thing."

"See, I just find it really hard to believe that ratings are down," said Wyndham Clark, sounding a note of disagreement. "I think people that I do know that are watching it loved it. I think golf is growing. I think golf sales have grown. I know golf memberships are growing. It makes no sense at the professional level that the viewership would be down. In my thoughts, is it because everyone is streaming and people are watching it from different avenues than maybe the normal telecast? I think that's a little bit of a skewed stat."

Do we think Wyndham has ever heard of Pauline Kael? 

At least the author acknowledges reality, however begrudgingly:

Caveats aside, it’s hard to see the ratings as anything but bad news. Even if streaming is up, the TV deals with CBS and NBC are a major source of revenue for the tour (and for the majors), and infinitely more valuable than anything they get from streaming or social. If those networks can't sell as many ads, then the tour’s hopes of getting more than the $700 million deal it signed through 2030 when the next deal is being negotiated will be particularly challenging. In other words, considering the ultimate payoff, a hit to the actual terrestrial ratings is a big deal that is not offset financially by gains in other sectors. Sources tell Golf Digest that there's real concern at NBC/Golf Channel about declining ratings, and that CBS executives was extremely disappointed in its Masters numbers, particularly as the network broadcast weekend coverage of tour events for the next 12 weeks.

As you can tell by the layers of disclaimers that pile up each time you try to discuss ratings, it's extremely hard to quantify how "tired" fans have become of the PGA Toutr-LIV hamster wheel, or whether viewers are truly abandoning professional golf in droves (if they are, they're not going to LIV, whose ratings remain anemic). It passes the smell test, but the dozens of caveats that come with interpreting ratings end up introducing a kind of paralyzing effect when it comes to reaching any conclusions; the more you know, the more complicated it becomes. What's not complicated, though, is that numbers are down in relevant ways, and that’s happening during a time of unprecedented growth in recreation golf spurred on by the pandemic.

For five years we've been hearing that such-and-such was changed or ruined by Covid, when it really was ruined by our insane reaction to Covid, quite a different thing.

In this case they're blaming LIV, when it's more their money-grubbing opportunism that's ruining the Tour.  Put simply, the elite players think they are the product, when it should be the game itself that is on offer.  When you reorganize your events to present the dour, humorless Patrick Cantlay as the face of the tour, don't be surprised when the public has better things to do.  Sometimes, the food is so bad that the dogs just won't eat it...

The TC panel had thoughts:

4. The Masters’ TV ratings fell significantly in 2024, with CBS reporting 9.59 million average viewers — nearly 2.5 million less than last year — tuned in to watch Scheffler’s victory. Sunday, notably, was down around 20 percent, which is about the same trend the PGA Tour has seen this season. (For more on this, check out and subscribe to GOLF’s Hot Mic newsletter.) Should we be concerned about the ratings? And what’s to blame? PGA Tour-LIV Golf fatigue? Scheffler’s surgical play and even-keeled demeanor? Something else?

Colgan: Yes, we should be concerned. The reasons for it are varied, but the reality is pretty bleak: People are turning away from watching professional golf, and they’re not turning away from other professional sports. The folks who run the golf business can come up with 100 reasons behind that reality, but the simplest answer seems to be that after golf’s stakeholders spent three years telling fans they didn’t matter, a chunk of those fans actually listened!

Melton: The ratings drop seems to be in line with what we’ve seen across golf since the PGA-LIV spat began. Casual fans just don’t seem to be interested in watching a niche sport with so much infighting. Combine that with a Sunday afternoon when the result was all but decided (and with Tiger in the mix), and you have a recipe for some poor ratings.

Dethier: I guess we in the industry should be concerned. And golfers who get paid based on golf’s popularity should be concerned. But I resent the idea that being a golf fan means caring about TV ratings in such a granular way. Watch it if you like it!

Zephyr, in what sense was the Masters outcome all but decided?  You had those final two groups bunched and some bold print names lurking further back, not to mention Scottie hitting it all over the yard early in the day.

I have no clue what Dylan is going for.  Yeah, I get that the professional game is not golf, but it's still hard to see the Tour destroy itself.  The best stories in golf this year have been at the non-signature events, and that should tell them something useful..  But it won't.

I'll wrap things here and try to deal with the rest of the news cycle tomorrow.  Have a great week.

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Thursday, April 18, 2024

Thursday Threads - Masters Leftovers Edition

It's getting close to time to move on.... But not just yet.

Augusta In The Rearview Mirror - As we emotionally distance ourselves from Magnolia Lane, we may find time to consider the women's first major of the season, A/K/A The event that the Lords of Augusta destroyed.  But first, some last bits for your consideration, mostly from Shack and Dylan Dethier.

Two independent voices of differing generations that work as a Point-Counterpoint debate.  For Instance, their takes on our Eldrick, first Dylan:

6. Tiger Woods walked 72 holes.

After a terrific performance in the first two rounds to make his record-setting 24th consecutive Masters cut (with five shots to spare!), things took a negative turn on the weekend for Tiger
Woods.

That’s been the story in Woods’ recent major starts. At last year’s Masters he made the cut and then withdrew on Saturday night. At the PGA Championship in 2022 he withdrew on Saturday night, too. And although he gritted his way to a 47th-place finish at the 2022 Masters, he hobbled through the final round using his driver as a walking stick.

So in many ways Woods’ 82-77 weekend didn’t feel like progress. But in terms of his body holding up for four days? It’s at least a step in the right direction. We’ll see whether that trend continues.

OK, but a bit of a low bar, no?  Don't get me wrong, I'm OK if his time has passed, but the Tiger dead-enders can't be sated....

Geoff trisects the world into Winners, Cut-Makers and (Point) Missers, and places the Striped One in that middle category (and, no, I can't explain the parenthesis):

Tiger Woods. A remarkable 24-consecutive cuts made sets the new record after a tremendous performance that required a rapid Thursday-to-Friday turnaround. But 82-77 on the weekend was painful to see. The stiff back and lack of golf conditioning remains an issue even as he appears to walk better, has all of the shots and can out-navigate the kids around a complex course. At least Tiger treated amateur Neil Shipley to a once-in-a-lifetime final round by making the low amateur feel welcomed while making Oakmont feel bad about all of the tree removal. Oh, and the Sunday Red Sun Day Red logo remains weird but good job jettisoning the S.D.R. initials that teed up the haters to hate.

Could someone explain the Oakmont reference?  

In a perfect world, this would be a learning experience for those running our game.  Here we are reveling in Tiger's made cut record and extolling is Friday grind in pursuit thereof, quite the shock when you realize the idiots in charge don't want there to be cuts any longer.... I completely understand that we cannot grow our game if Cantlay has to risk missing a cut.  It's just so maddening that to save golf we have to destroy it, but I'm sure Patrick has the fans' interest at heart.

But, and they both seem loathe to say it out loud, it's hard to retain any hope that the man can be competitive if he has to walk 72 holes.  Don't shoot the messenger....

Shall we see how they come down on the defending champion?

8. The defending champ didn’t like giving up the green jacket.

Jon Rahm is one of golf’s great competitors, so it’s not surprising that he’d be upset by the idea of giving up his green jacket. But as he put the finishing touches on a T45 finish he expressed some regret about not putting the fight to the World No. 1.

“There’s a lot of things that contributed to me not having my best week, and one of them I think was obviously on the greens, which is not easy. Never really had the pace of the greens, and a couple too many three-putts,” he said. Were there positives? Sort of.

“It’s been nice to have some receptions walking up to some tees no matter what my score was and seeing the appreciation. But when you don’t have your best week, it’s hard to have to stay now to put the jacket on somebody else and never really ever have a chance.”

I think they call  that a first-world problem....But I think Geoff came closer to the Spaniard's rage against the machine:

Jon Rahm. He came into the tournament embracing the perks of defending and put together what
sounded like an incredible evening. He earned raves from the past champions—until Ray Floyd had heard enough of Tom Watson and everyone called it a night. Then Rahm turned surly. “It's been nice to have some receptions walking up to some tees no matter what my score was and seeing the appreciation,” he said Sunday after a final round 76. “But when you don't have your best week, it's hard to have to stay now to put the jacket on somebody else and never really ever have a chance.” Coulda been worse Jon! You could have been enlisted to slap Pimento on white bread on the night shift. And while Rahm never looked as miserable as runner-ups forced to sit through cabin ceremonies of yesteryear—a cruel tradition now expired—it wasn’t the most jovial jacket awarding by outgoing champion Rahm. So much for $400 million delivering 24/7 happiness.

Neither mentions those passive-aggressive comments to Spanish media, the bigger issue being that their prize acquisition seems quite miserable with his decision, notwithstanding the $400 million large.

I'll add this apparent category error from Geoff:

LIV. Seven of 13 representatives made the cut, two managed to tie for T6, but only Bryson DeChambeau genuinely threatened the lead. Unlike last year when two players tied for second and made us question the PGA Tour’s run-up as the ideal Masters prep, cracks are turning into grand canyons after LIVsters Rahm and Phil Mickelson admitted expansion to 72 holes is just a matter of time. Not helping LIV’s street cred: DeChambeau suggested only Doral provided LIV players a big time prep test this year. And LIV dropping its OWGR application was highlighted by Chairman Fred Ridley in rejecting the league’s fantasy of seeing top players receive major exemptions.

How was this week anything but a disaster for LIV?  From chief clown Greg Norman's pathetic trolling from outside the ropes to Bryson's weekend fade, their thirteen top players weren't competitively relevant this week.  They can scream all they want about OWGR points, but this week doesn't make a case for that.

More importantly, the rumors of disaffection keep hitting, including Rahm, Smith and Koepka, among others....And no mater the extent to which Norman stalks Rory, literally, he just keeps saying, "You're not my type".

here's a couple that belong together.  Mid-Sunday, I got a text (you'll know when in the proceedings) that referenced the contenders throwing up on themselves, which isn't really fair (not that fairness and golf belong in the same sentence.  But I agree with Dylan's take on Max Homa:

4. Max Homa got a bad bounce.

I was behind the 12th tee for Max Homa’s tee shot peering over the shoulders of about 6,000 of my new best friends so it was a little tough to tell exactly what had happened when Homa’s ball flew the green other than it didn’t seem good. Once Homa started searching — and then measuring club lengths for a drop — it seemed extra not-good. But it wasn’t until I got back to the media center that I saw a replay of the bounce. What a rotten break! If it flies a yard further it hits the slope and comes back down. If it flies a yard shorter it doesn’t trampoline forward. A little left or right and it dodges that nasty patch of ivy. Brutal!

Turns out Homa felt the same way.

“The honest answer? Is it didn’t feel fair,” he said of the bounce. “I hit a really good golf shot, and it didn’t feel fair. I’ve seen far worse just roll back down the hill. But yeah, the professional answer is these things happen.”

These things do happen. That’s the game. But it’s tough when they happen while you’re in second place at the Masters on the back nine on Sunday, down one shot to the best player in the world. I’m not here to tell you that was the difference — even if you assume the bounce cost Homa two shots, he lost by seven — but it would have stretched the drama just a little longer.

I don't if "bad bounce" is the perfect term, but for Aberg as well it was a small mistake in just the wrong time and place, which to me is the essence of Augusta.  I was actually hoping to hear from Max as to club selection, because I suspect that he tugged it a titch as well....  

Shack had this related note:

Sharp edges. The Quad always supports the installation of graceful surface drainage to add interest over unnatural catch basins to move the heavy stuff into Rae’s Creek. This year we saw a
new swale around the sixth green similar to work at the 11th and 17th or even the since-softened 13th hole work of the 1980s. Naturalists Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones would recoil at the steepness of some of the slopes given how they largely discourage the ground game and force a lob wedge recovery instead of providing options. Rory McIlroy diplomatically described the biggest change he’s seen to the course over his 16 years: “There's a lot of sharpness to the edges of the green compounds that didn't used to be there, which makes it -- the right of the 11th green, which makes it just a little trickier to chip to and just penalizes the misses a little bit more, which ultimately, I think, is a good thing.” But “sharpness” is more Pete Dye than Alister MacKenzie. Steep slopes up to a green take away the skill of hitting a nifty little bump-and-run option adored by the original architects.

That explains much of what I saw during the week, but funny that it happens without any discussion thereof prior to the event.

Earlier this week we noted seemingly strong ratings for the early rounds.  But, upon further review:

Ratings. I wrote too soon. A 20% overnight ratings drop for the final round continues a season-long trend where—who’d a thunk it—entitlement, greed, the power game, heavy turnover, slow play, NBC/Golf Channel’s diminished reach and continued strong recreational numbers appear to have accelerated 2024’s narrative. There are caveats: the Masters streaming experience remains superior to anything in sports and is not accounted for in the ratings. This means many of those golfers playing might have had the telecast playing on their cell phones. CBS averaged just 9.6 million Sunday with a peak of 12.6 million as Scheffler clinched the win. Saturday saw a healthy 8.2 million average viewers. Also, SBJ’s Josh Carpenter notes that Nielsen’s numbers last year saw a bump due to “out-of-home” viewing, suggesting this year did not enjoy a boost from all of the heathens with one eyeball glued to the golf at Easter family brunch.

That's still a boatload of folks watching our silly game, but if you can't retain your audience at the Masters.....It's going to be a long, dismal year.

I agree with Geoff here, though for unexplained reasons this in included with the Cut-Makers:

Tinkerers, blamers-of-team-members, wannabe future captains of industry (with the initials P.C.), and current selectors of the next Ryder Cup captain. Rough week for the PGA Tour’s irreplaceable assets who’ve devoted too much time to board meetings and firing members of their “teams” in bids to avoid introspection. A bunch of guys should double down on what they’re not as good at these days: playing golf. Hopefully the rough week for the PGA Tour’s well-compensated but under-delivering stars humbled them into submission and will let grown-ups sort out the current mess.

It's been the story of the entire PGA Tour season.  We are reliably informed that professional golf is entirely about a handful of players, then said handful are conspicuously absent from leaderboards.  It may be that the product is the game, not Patrick, or is that just crazy talk?

Given Geoff's misclassification of that Perfect Penis, who is deserving of his contempt?  I agree this was quite the odd story:

Zach Johnson. The vulgar salutation to Amen Corner patrons applauding his triple bogey tap-in was unbecoming of a former champion. Funny, but unbecoming. And sure, there might have been
a few lubricated jeers mixed in with stock golf claps that are not ideal but no reason to tell patrons to F off. One dubious-sounding Reddit post claims the 2007 champion was heckled when arriving at the tee, but the one-liners cited sounded identical to February’s Scottsdale heckling that prompted his meltdown there (Johnson also gave a new spin on that episode last week). Unfortunately for Zach, the incredibly nice and golf-knowledgable people who attend the Masters, (A) would like to return year so they never heckle, (B) are generous in applauding anything short of someone falling on their face, and (C) Amen Corner patrons sit far away from the 12th green and often lose track of how many shots a player has taken if they are at all distracted by action on the 11th green or the 5 p.m. Crow’s Nest sales cutoff. Par putts at 12 sometimes get the same applause as a birdie putt. It’s the dynamic of the Corner. Still, Johnson put himself in position for quote of the year when, after the incident, he offered this beauty. “If I've said anything, which I'm not going to deny, especially if it's on camera, one, I apologize, and two, it was fully directed towards myself entirely because I can't hear anything behind me. Does that make sense?” Oh it does. Especially since it was on camera.

This gave drives us to madness, but his competitive prime is long behind him and he's supposed to an elder statesman of some sort, so the absence of class is noticeable...

I had heard about his histrionics, but not about the Sergio homage:

Tyrrell Hatton. Spitting on the greens? This isn’t a LIV stop. A T9 means you’ll be back but not before hearing from the Chairman’s office. Let us know what he says and be thankful Clifford Roberts is no longer around.

Did he use the "nothing but net" defense?  Amusingly, most of Hatton's vitriol was directed at on e certain hole, and Geoff seems to agree (on the substance, not the expectoration):

15th hole. Before the tournament we focused on the front nine’s increasingly defensive nature. But with this year’s extreme winds, the two back nine par 5s played much tougher than normal.
The setup crew kept the greens playable through Friday’s winds without calling in the hoses. That’s a tribute to the prep crews knowing the course, the weather and the data. But the 15th was all just a bit much. Even with more sunlight hitting the fairway after some selective right side pine pruning, the tee shot remains too difficult given a combination of narrowness, right-to-left fairway tilt and the left side’s fortified forest. The green complex has also grown too severe. The closer cut this year accentuated the pond’s influence and led to a lot of double bogeys. Throw in the crazy winds, extreme green speeds and pros hitting never-had-a-chance wedge shots and the hole was more of a survival test than risk/reward fun. Final stats: 5.007 average, 1 eagle, 37 birdies, 14 doubles and two others.

A couple last bits from Dylan.  I am not now nor have I ever been a gearhead, but this is probably of greater significance that we can appreciate:

5. Bryson DeChambeau’s irons story is insane.

Arguably the wildest storyline of the week. Let’s keep this very basic. As I understand it, for all of modern golfing history the faces on irons have been flat. Until this week.

In Bryson DeChambeau’s new iron set (more here), the irons don’t have flat faces; they have the bulge-and-roll profile you’d recognize from your driver. They weren’t approved by the USGA until the beginning of Masters week; DeChambeau’s team literally spent the weekend handcrafting them to pass inspection. And then DeChambeau — who has a poor Masters record — used these 3D-printed irons to shoot a first-round 65 to take the outright lead. He ultimately finished T6, which is significant for his career. But these irons feel like an even bigger story than that. And this week felt like the beginning.

How much of an advantage is that?  I'm still trying to understand how we should view Tiger's 15-shot Margin at Pebble in 2000, given that he was the only guy in the field playing a solid-core ball.  I suspect we'll hear more on this going forward.

I'm amused that Dylan's longest bit is this one that he doesn't know what to say about:

7. Rory McIlroy tried something different.

But maybe not as different as he’d have us think.

Rory McIlroy arrived on Tuesday of the Masters and was the final contestant to register. “I play 25 weeks a year, and there’s no point in doing anything different this week compared to other weeks, I guess,” he said. That was this week’s declared strategy.

The temptation, then, is to say that McIlroy tried not to take this week too seriously, but that’s not
quite right either. He flew to Augusta two weeks before the event for a scouting trip. He flew from Florida to Las Vegas just to get a golf lesson. He added an event, the Valero Texas Open, to play the week before the tournament. And when he arrived at the Masters, he came with a skeleton crew — essentially just his caddie and his agent — got his practice in and skipped the par-3 contest while his family stayed home.

By the time McIlroy wrapped his second round he’d faded to four over par, inside the cut line but fully 10 shots behind Scottie Scheffler, who’d played in his group. Their third was Åberg, who’d wind up second. A ho-hum weekend left McIlroy T22, which is where he’s been spending this season; five of his six PGA Tour finishes in 2024 have been between T19 and T24.

“I guess it’s more the same of what I’ve shown this year. It’s not as if it’s been a down week in comparison to the way I’ve been playing. It’s just a matter of me trying to get my game in a bit better shape going towards the rest of the season,” McIlroy said post-round. He doesn’t feel far off, he added, because “all these disappointing weeks are 20ths, 25ths. They’re not terrible weeks by any stretch, but there’s a lot of room for improvement.”

McIlroy was the subject of more headlines away from the Masters than at the Masters; on Monday various sites ran with a report that he was considering an $850 million offer from LIV that spread like wildfire across social media. His manager Sean O’Flaherty ultimately denied the reports to the Irish Independent. “Fake news. Zero truth,” he said.

Vanna, I'd like to buy a clue....  Rory will try anything, except actually addressing the profound weaknesses in his game or hiring a caddie that can actually read greens.  I'll make a bold prediction, to wit, that he'll continue to mumble about how close he is....  I know just call me Nostradamus.

Shall we give the ladies a moment?

Houston, We Have An Opportunity - It's a significantly diminished event, having lost its connective tissue to the early days of women's professional golf.  But there's the one lady that could bail them out:

5 things to know about the Chevron Championship, where Nelly Korda looks to extend her winning streak to five

I just have to note that, not only did the Lords of Augusta poop on the old Dinah and its pre-Masters date but, in making Harbor Town a Signature Event Money Grab, they've been further damaged by the PGA Tour.

Amusingly, Nelly is not one of her five items, but it's all anyone cares about at this juncture.  Yeah, this girl had a day on the big stage, but won't draw any eyes to TV's:

From Augusta to LPGA debut

Florida State’s Lottie Woad sent an email to her professors letting them know that she’d won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and would be headed to an LPGA major.

“I hope you can excuse me,” she wrote.

The Englishwoman, who birdied three out of the last four holes to win at Augusta National, is one of four amateurs in the field at the Chevron, and while she has no set goals for the week, she’s enjoying an up-close view of players she’s long watched on TV. Her putting coach also works with England’s Charley Hull, and they snapped a picture together.

Woad said it was cool how many pros reached out on social media to say they’d watched and offer congrats.

“There is a picture on Instagram of Justin Rose in front of the TV like with me holing the putt,” she said. “He’s definitely one of my idols, so seeing him watching it and supporting me was really cool.”

It's a nice story, but if you think PGA ratings have been dreadful, these will be measure in the dozens...

This would be great, if it weren't golf:

Is there another player, perhaps besides Lydia, that moves the needle even slightly?

The ladies have to find their own audience, and I very much hate the woke calls for equal purses.  That said, Augusta National went out of their way to damage the women's best professional event, and have never been held to account for that.

That's for today and probably this week.  Enjoy your weekend.

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Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Tuesday Tastings - Masters Hangover Edition

Often it's the second day f blogging that offers the deepest insights, though a quick pass through the major golf websites portends disappointment.  I guess the golfing press was focused on paying their taxes or consumed by the WNBA draft....

Let's see what we can come up with for you...

The Man In Green - Let's lead with ESPN's wrap up post:

Answering golf's biggest questions after Scottie Scheffler's Masters win

Big questions like Jason Day's vest?

The actually start with this one:

What's the ceiling for Scheffler?

This guy begins reasonably enough:

Schlabach: I honestly don't think Scheffler has a ceiling right now. Over the past two years, he has matured tremendously as a golfer. He admitted Sunday that playing golf will become less of a
priority after his wife, Meredith, gives birth to their first child later this month.

But Scheffler also said that he will always care deeply about winning golf tournaments -- almost wanting to win too much. I think capturing a second green jacket is confirmation that he's the best golfer in the world. He has won nine times since February 2022, but only one of them was at a major championship.

Now, he has won two green jackets. I don't think it's a question of whether Scheffler will win another major championship. It's a question of how many he's going to win and how long it's going to take him to pile them up.

But then the sound of his own voice becomes so intoxicating that he simply can't control his fingers on the keyboard....

Honestly, is it too early to talk about him winning a potential Grand Slam this season?

That's a hard YES!  The proper time to discuss Scottie's slam would be after he wins at Pinehurst, having also won at Valhalla.  But thanks for asking.

He is the best player in the world that just accomplished what I think may be the hardest thing n this maddening game, winning when you're expected to win.  That said, it's still golf, as the guy playing valet to Scottie in the above photo could attest.

We featured Ted Scott yesterday, who had this to say about teaming up with his new boss:

Scott had seen Scheffler play up close at the 2021 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where
Scheffler paired with Scott's old boss, Bubba Watson. And that was because nobody else wanted to play with Watson, according to Scheffler. A chance encounter, one might call it.

A few months later, Scott and Watson split, and Scheffler came calling. Scott's life has since changed in a big way, and he had no idea that would be the case when he took he job.

"When he called me, I had no idea he was that good," Scott said Sunday at Augusta National. "We [Scott and Bubba Watson] were his partner in New Orleans. I was like, yeah, he's a good player, and he's a great guy. I'd love to hang out with him.

"After two weeks, I was like, this guy is really good. Now it's like, wow, he is really good. I'm surprised, too."

This exchange from the 13th fairway was interesting:

Scott praised his boss' patience and his experience around Augusta National, though he did get a touch aggressive on the 13th hole when he didn't really need to. He was ahead by three strokes but decided to go for the green anyway from the rough. Naturally, he hit a piercing 4-iron to the safe side of the green and two-putted for birdie from 75 feet.

"He just seemed focused on doing Scottie Scheffler things," Scott said. "That's what he said on 13. He goes, should we go for it? I said, absolutely. Why don't we do what we do and what we're good at. He's the best ball striker in the world.

"He hit an unbelievable 4-iron, which is just incredible to that small target. Those targets seem big when you're caddieing for Scottie Scheffler. That's how good he is."

I wasn't so sure in the moment that was such a good call, but that's why he's the Augusta legend.....

I'll admit that I was hoping that Meredith would drop the kid yesterday, because how cool would it be to have your father win a Masters on your birthday.... But it's a grueling gauntlet after you win,. two green jacket ceremonies, multiple press availabilities and dinner with the members..... So, while we think he then rushed home to his bride....

We don't judge here at Unplayable Lies (Ed: Yeah, that's a good one), but does Scottie seem a dive bar kind of guy to you?

Mr. Shackelford does give Scottie his props, including this bit:

His power off the tee proved to be a noticeable asset on the weekend, but it’s his old-soul course management and self-confidence that carried the day. Scheffler joins legendary company as a two-time Masters champion by age 27: Nicklaus, Ballesteros and Woods.

But also has a bone or two to pick from the second hole:

The only blemish to his week was another concerning bout with the spirit of the rules. A subset of our world admires someone who stretches the boundaries of decorum in a quest for victory, but
Scheffler’s second hole issues Sunday probably should have been more closely scrutinized by tournament officials and CBS. Scheffer dropped forward from a crosswalk after what looked like another tense conversation with an official. Then, after airmailing the green, he failed to consult his playing partner or an official after possibly causing his ball to oscillate after persistent club grounding behind the ball. The patrons absolved him but they are not running the tournament. As with his 18th hole incident in 2022, the second hole situation highlighted Scheffler’s pushy persistence with officials and a disappointing lack of concern for how disappointing his spirit-pushing behavior comes across.

Don't know what to do with that rant.  I saw the drop and reacted similarly, though I didn't catch the interaction with the rules official.  As for the action behind the green, I'm with Geoff that this banging of clubs behind their balls has to come to an end.  I'm clueless as to why he would do that on a tight Augusta lie, though it simply can't be a Patrick Reed-inspired attempt to improve his lie.... But, Geoff, if all his ball did was oscillate, why is that a problem?

Men Not In Green - Not a good week for the LIVsters, much to your humble blogger's pleasure.  This item covers how each of the baker's dozen finished, including these five lost souls:

Missed cut: 6 over and worse

Sergio Garcia: 7 over

Bubba Watson: 10 over

Charl Schwartzel: 11 over

Dustin Johnson: 13 over

Adrian Meronk: 14 over

Folks are most surprised by DJ, though should they really be?   Don't know if you caught any of Sergio, but he had it coming just for those yellow pants on Thursday....  In fact, he owes Jason Day a thank you note.  His play makes this tweet look silly, as do the shorts:

The glass-half-full reaction is that the fledgling tour had two guys finish T6, which isn't so awfully bad.  The official Unplayable Lies reaction is that the best LIV could do was nine strokes off the winning score..... that doesn't sound as good, does it?

The serious issue is one we discussed last year, does the LIV schedule properly prepare these guys for the big events?  I made the case back then, but Phil, Brooks and Reed made my arguments seem weak.  But let's flip back to that ESPN item, specifically their assessment of the week's losers:

Uggetti: Several golfers finished below Jon Rahm this week, but plenty of golfers finished above him, too, including Scheffler, who beat Rahm by 20 shots. As a defending Masters champion, it's never easy to be the one who has to put the green jacket on the winner knowing full well you did not retain it.

But for Rahm, the dilemma goes beyond Butler Cabin. He showed up to Augusta having played less golf in the lead-up than any other year because of his departure to LIV Golf. It was unclear how much his game would suffer, if at all, from playing in 54-hole events and not tournaments like the Genesis Invitational, where he had also won in 2023.

Rahm looked sluggish, never seeming to find the ideal form to compete, let alone contend. It's difficult to repeat as a Masters champion, but it's also not a great sign that Rahm will leave Augusta and have to wait a week before heading to Australia and Singapore to play against worse fields in order to get ready for the next major in mid May.

The man doesn't seem very happy, does he?  And how about this hot take:

The Spaniard’s dire performance led to a withering take-down from respected Daily Mail journalist Oliver Holt, who wrote: “He played his final round wearing the air of a man who is beginning to realise he has made a horrible mistake. He was the king of the world and all of golf stretched out before him, waiting to be conquered. And then he sabotaged it all.

“He ruined his legacy by turning his back on mainstream golf at the height of his powers and joining a tour with a 54-hole format, where the lack of intensity seems to have left Rahm singularly unprepared for a return to the demands of more competitive golf.”

One of the amusing side notes to this is the acute sensitivity of the LIVsters to perceived slights, as if their rejection of the Tour that made them fabulously wealthy shouldn't affect them.  Interesting theory, but even this guy is whining about microaggressions:


"Yes, I have noticed hostile attitudes," Rahm said. "But I expected it, my friends have continued
to be my friends, but some with whom I had a very cordial relationship have not even looked at my face."

Rahm gave no indication of who he was referring to. Though one man we can definitely rule out is Scottie Scheffler, who Rahm was chuckling with during the green jacket ceremony following Scheffler's victory. No ill will there, it would appear.

Rahm says he was much more surprised by who it was that iced him as opposed to the icing in general.

"If someone changes their opinion [of me] it's your issue, not mine," he said. "I knew what was going to happen but I didn't know who."

I told you we would end up hating all these guys....  He sticks a shiv in their back and still expects them to adore him...Good luck with that.

But, gee, he gets iced by unnamed PGA Tour members, so wouldn't your first guess be the Artist Formerly Known as Patty Ice?

The writer of the El Mundo article, Hugo Costa, alluded to the fact that Rahm did have a "good relationship" with both Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay prior to leaving for LIV and that those two "could have had gestures of contempt" toward the Spaniard at the Masters. Rahm did not call out anyone by name.

To me, the funniest part of this is that the whine was apparently only for a Spanish audience..... Do they know we have the Internet? 

Did you catch Greg Norman's appearance in the gallery on Thursday and Friday?  Funny that he wasn't to be seen over the weekend, when his guys went South, but it gives Eamon Lynch a chance to review some history:

For nigh on 40 years, numbers have had a painful way of exposing Greg Norman’s shortcomings at Augusta National. Some have been small, like the 5 he carded on the last hole in 1986 to finish runner-up. Or the six bogeys he made in the final round a year later on his way to finishing runner-up. Or the 11-shot swing he authored in ’96 that turned a six-stroke lead into a five-shot defeat as he finished … well, you know.

A cheap shot perhaps, but he certainly has it coming... But more numbers as well:

Each competitor in the field at the Masters gets eight passes to be used for family, friends and
hangers-on, though Augusta National sets some parameters on who they may be used for. Players also have the option to purchase four additional badges. With 13 LIV golfers competing this week, that represents dozens of opportunities for one of them to bring their boss to the tournament as thanks for allowing them to grow the game.

Ridley knew that Norman couldn’t be trusted if admitted, that a man prone to grandstanding and grievances would likely use the Masters to platform his pettiness. This year has proved those fears justified.

The Great White Pilot Fish told the Washington Post that he’s here to support his guys. “I’m here because we have 13 players that won 10 Masters between them,” he said. “I’m here just to support them, do the best I can to show them, ‘Hey, you know, the boss is here rooting for you.’”

Yet none of those thirteen had a ticket to spare for the boss?  Curious.

But Eamon seems to think him a stalker:

For three straight days, Norman has appeared at Augusta National wearing his trademark straw hat, doing all he can to ensure he is noticed. And he wants to be noticed by one man in particular. On Wednesday and Thursday, he rode the rope line in view of Rory McIlroy, one of his more vocal and consistent critics. Even if McIlroy wasn’t in pursuit of the career grand slam, Norman would be about as welcome in his field of vision as glaucoma. Norman knows this, yet has opted to act as the unofficial troll of the Masters.

Perhaps we'll get to Rory later, but Norman on the rope line reeks of desperation, no?  I've been critical of Tiger and Rory for calling out Norman on the grounds that they're punching down.  Norman is irrelevant in my opinion, a figurehead that is best ignored.... Perhaps Eamon should have ignored him as well. 

One last LIV bit, also from Eamon Lynch, with an unlikely premise:

Lynch: Where have you gone Patrick Reed? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you!

Not just the nation Eamon, but the whole bloody world.

This 88th Masters is again serving as a canary in golf’s coal mine, this time by highlighting what is missing. Which is friction, villainy, antagonism, jerks.

Wry observers and social media commandoes will say there’s plenty of the above, but what
matters is where it manifests. The PGA Tour’s boardroom is fertile terrain, for example, but behind-the-scenes bickering isn’t core to the product. Inside the ropes, men’s professional golf has become a drama lacking compelling characters. In a sport that we’re told is struggling, an astonishing number of people are actually getting better off — players, agents, executives, bot farmers. Only the fans are making do with less. A lot less.

Only one LIV player has been competitively relevant so far at Augusta National, but competitiveness is immaterial to entertainment and engagement. Bryson DeChambeau ranks among the most polarizing players the sport has ever produced, simultaneously admirable in his devotion to the craft, endearing (almost) in his absence of self-awareness, and exasperating in his buffoonery. His presence is additive to the proceedings. His presence on the leaderboard is a bonus.

The same applies to Patrick Reed, who has taken a break this week from legal combat. And to Brooks Koepka, softened some by fatherhood but still exuding a carefully cultivated air of pouty menace. Even to Sergio Garcia. Last week he posted to social media a photo with LIV guys and a caption stating, “We’re coming for that green jacket,” only to find himself closer to a straitjacket after finishing the second round bogey-bogey-bogey-double bogey to miss the cut by one.

There's something to this argument, though I find it so amusing how all the a*****es jumped.

But I think Eamon is burying the lede here.  Isn't the real problem that we now also hate the guys that stayed behind?   The aggressive sense of entitlement and the exclusion of so many of their peers from the money grabs puts the lie to it being a game for gentlemen.

Men Not In Green, Ever - Could our Rory have had a worse week?  OK, maybe it was all about seeing Norman stalking him, but those Friday winds exposed Rory and the profound shortcomings of his game.  He drives it like a God, but the closer he gets the greens the more he resembles youre humble blogger.

Those ESPN guys had these thoughts, starting with the guy that's conceded the Slam to Scottie:

Is Rory ever going to complete the career Grand Slam?

Schlabach: I'm still a believer in Rory finally winning a green jacket and becoming only the sixth men's golfer to complete the career Grand Slam in the Masters era. I don't think his performance
at Augusta National was a result of him buckling under pressure or wanting a green jacket too much. His current form just isn't great, and he knows it.

McIlroy carded a 1-under 71 in the first round and a 6-over 77 in the second. He didn't play well in the windy conditions, but he wasn't the only one who struggled. He has just one top-10 finish in seven tour events, so his results weren't great coming into Augusta National.

After Sunday's round, McIlroy said he was confident he can turn things around before he plays the final three majors. He's scheduled to play in this week's RBC Heritage and with Shane Lowry in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event April 25-28. It sounds like Rory is going to keep grinding to figure things out.

"Yeah, probably not the right time to be analytical at the moment, but I think as well if you're really going to make wholesale changes it's hard to play a lot of golf and make them at the same time," McIlroy said.

"I don't feel like I need to make wholesale changes. That's why I'm playing a lot. But if the time comes that I need to make wholesale changes with my golf swing and really try to reassess, it could be a six-month to a year process. ... I don't think I'm there yet, but there may come a time where I need to address that and really go back to the drawing board."

So, Dear Reader, which is lamer?  Rory's denial or Schlabach's blind acceptance thereof?  It's bene ten long years in the desert and he continues to play his worst when he wants it the most, so keep on keeping on.  I continue to over-interpret the childhood bets friend on the bag, but you'd think he'd feel some urgency one of these days, no?

Uggetti: Everything about McIlroy's experience and talent indicates that he will win another major. Whether it can be at Augusta is a whole other question.

As the four-time major winner talked about this week, he has tried almost every different approach coming into the Masters -- arriving early, arriving late -- and though he has done everything from finish in the top-10 to miss the cut the past few years, he has yet to come close to winning.

"All I can do is come here and try my best," McIlroy said after his 1-under round Saturday. "That's what I do every time I show up. Some years it's better than others. I've just got to keep showing up and try to do the right thing."

Though McIlroy leaves Augusta with a tie for 22nd, there are several opportunities this year for him to add to his major total. He heads to Valhalla for the PGA Championship next, the site of his last major win in 2014. Familiarity hasn't done much for McIlroy at Augusta -- or elsewhere for that matter -- but his game is simply too good to not result in another major.

I'm curious to see how McIlroy approaches Augusta next year after another disappointing result. Will he play more? Will he play less? Will he see another swing coach? Or can he simply stay the course? This year, McIlroy was a firsthand witness to how Scheffler was able to conquer Augusta for the second time in three years.

McIlroy needs only one, but perhaps the key would be winning a major before Augusta. Of course, that's easier said than done, but if McIlroy can win at Valhalla or Pinehurst or Royal Troon, maybe some of the pressure surrounding this week can dissipate and allow him to freely chase after the coveted fourth major on his résumé.

I'm laughing at how bad these guys are at their job.  Everything about his experience says he'll win another major, except that he keeps playing like crap in them.  For, yanno, a decade now....  Did you see him at Portrush?  

His point in that last 'graph is interesting.  I agree that perhaps heading into Augusta '25 would be easier with another pelt, I just view it as a low-probability event.  But, if you think he could grab one of the next three, to me there's one that's the obvious fit.  Which is why I find this really strange:

Against perhaps better judgment, I'll pick McIlroy to win The Open at Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland on July 18-21. McIlroy's major drought will be nearly 10 years long by then -- he last won at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla -- and it has to end at some point.

He tied for fifth at Royal Troon in 2016 and for sixth at Royal Liverpool during Brian Harman's breakthrough major win in July 2023. He tied for fifth at the 2016 Open at Royal Troon and had two top-six finishes in the past two Opens.

Perhaps?  Did you not see Rory in the wind on Friday?  Have you ever been to the West Coast of Scotland?

If Rory were to win one of these, to me it's the next one that jumps out.  Les because of 2014, than because it's got the best possibility of being in Rory's sweet spot, low wind and soft.  Obviously were the event still in August, I'd like his chances far more.

But that takes second place to this prediction:

As far as the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina on June 13-16, I'll go with Norway's Viktor Hovland, the reigning FedEx Cup champion. I know his game was a mess at the Masters, but his game sets up perfectly for Pinehurst No. 2. Hovland hits the ball long and accurately off the tee, and he's one of the best ball strikers in the world with an iron in his hand. There's plenty of time for him to get his form back in order before the U.S. Open.

Really?  

Let me know how that pick works out for you....

I will have to leave you here, as breakfast is being served.  I'll will likely skip tomorrow and see what Thursday brings us.   

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