Weekend Wrap - A World Without LIV Edition

It's been an extremely tough stretch for your humble blogger, the only saving grace being that the issues are not long-term.  But the last tow weeks has been quite hellish....

Have I had cause to reference Hemingway previously?  I can't remember doing so but, then again, I can't actually remember much.  But, back in the day he was asked how golf tours go bankrupt, and this was his answer:

"Two ways: gradually and then suddenly"

Please buckle your seat belt as we exit the gradual stage.....

Fitzmagic -  I'm a fan of Harbor Town (which I played once back in the day) and this perfect, laid-back post-Masters get-together.... Strike that, what used to be a pleasantly relaxed vibe has been ruined by designating it a Signature Event.  The alleged slam-dunk logic of forcing the top 70 players to play the same week is undermined when half the filed is suffering from pimento-cheese withdrawal symptoms.

Geoff had some thoughts on the week:

Matt Fitzpatrick did it again.

He captured another RBC Heritage at Harbour Town.

He became the second two-time winner on the tour this year.

And continuing a trend that Fitzpatrick brushed off with aplomb last month en route to winning the Valspar, he had to hold off both the World No. 1 and a xenophobic-adjacent Hilton Head crowd.

“It didn’t get out of line in terms of no one was shouting on backswings or anything like that,” Fitzpatrick said after birdieing the first hole of sudden death to beat Scottie Scheffler. “Which was great. I’m all for it. I love the people -- they’re supporting Scottie; that’s great. You want golf to have an atmosphere in my opinion.”

Fitzpatrick’s fourth PGA Tour title joins his wins at the 2022 U.S. Open, 2023 RBC Heritage, and the 2026 Valspar.

The crowd partisanship on display at a pretty old school PGA Tour stop seemed particularly odd thanks to Fitzpatrick’s passion for Harbour Town and the Englishman’s embrace of American tour life.

It's a lovely story of a English family finding their ideal vacation spot across the wide Atlantic, as apparently they don't like their golf course without encroaching residential real estate.  

The Tour Confidential panel struggled unsuccessfully for an angle on the event:

Matt Fitzpatrick won the RBC Heritage in a playoff over Scottie Scheffler, who started the day three shots off the lead but caught Fitzpatrick late. Is your Hilton Head takeaway more focused on Fitzpatrick’s second win in the last month, or Scheffler’s second straight runner-up finish?

Colgan: How quickly we forget that Scottie Scheffler remains a U.S. Open victory away from the career grand slam? Kudos to Fitz for another win, and for continuing to reestablish himself as one of the premier players in the sport … but my eyes are already peeking ahead to Shinnecock.

Sens: Like Woods before him, Scheffler has twisted our expectations so wildly out of proportion that a second-place finish somehow gets cast as a failure. Fitzpatrick is on a great run of golf. Scheffler is operating in a different dimension. Whatever “struggles” he went through earlier seem to be behind him. So yeah, as James said, eyes on Shinnecock. But also on Aronimink before that. And frankly, anywhere Scheffler tees it up.

Schrock: The Scheffler “struggles” were blown out of proportion as we tend to do when an elite athlete dips below the level at which we’ve become accustomed to seeing them operate. Scheffler almost erased a 12-shot weekend deficit at the Masters with an ice-cold putter. He’s the best in the world, and I expect him to contend every time he tees it up. To me, this was more about Fitzpatrick. A year ago, he was in a bad spot. His game was “rubbish,” and he was ranked 79th in the world. A year later, he has three worldwide wins and has beaten both Rory and Scottie in separate playoffs. His rise back is impressive, and I think he’s a much better player now than what we thought his ceiling was when he won the 2022 U.S. Open. Expect him to threaten at Aronimink and the Open.

The success is a surprise, as is the added length he's added, which is where so many before him have lost their games and minds.  No doubt a tough competitor not scared by the moment and, just to add a downer, likely to be a Ryder Cup thorn in our side for the foreseeable future.

Masters Scat - Geoff's been doing his typical post-major thing, by which I mean Winners, Cut-Makers and Point-Missers.  I haven't read any of them yet, think of it as bare-back blogging, but I'll be very disappointed is a certain Spaniard doesn't break into that last category.....

Shall we start with his good stuff? Again, rhetorical....

Champions, 2026 Masters

The very best from another remarkable week at Augusta National.

Tournament Starting On The Back Nine Sunday. The Jenkins credo has made its way back from the dark (Hootie) days. As tempting as it is, there is need to re-litigate course changes that

changed the Masters flow from three-and-a-half days of socializing, respectful applause, and pimento cheese sandwiches to U.S. Open style golf. Some of the reverting back to old school vibe has been done by distances catching up to course changes made with future leaps in mind. Helene helped clear out some trees (or get them moved to plug in holes). A few more could be moved from 15 and 17 to encourage more Sunday afternoon zaniness. The final confirmation that no one should blink an eye until around 4:30 on Sunday afternoon? Rory McIlroy approached his front nine setbacks just other legends aware of the old adage.

The guild requires a Dan Jenkins reference, so we're pleased to meet those obligations....

Golden Bell. What a needy little hole! So many others would love to be the decider just once to plant new little demon seeds. But nooooo, you just have to do it every year. First, it was the

Augusta National Women’s Amateur, when Maria Jose Marin experienced a “miracle” before Asterisk Talley joined the Hall of Fame list of greats to suffer at the hands of 155’s cruelty. Then came the Masters final round, with the same stock swirling breezes that have confounded every generation. But it’s the green’s extreme angle that never fails to shock players. Maybe it’s because Sunday’s back right hole comes a day after the traditional holes cut in the center or all the way left? Either way, measuring 161 yards, the final round shot by McIlroy embodied a wild week: using wisdom gained and stored on his immense mental server, McIlroy remedied his iron pulls in a post-third round practice session. Then he made a nearly seven-foot birdie putt that can be tricky to read. His chasers had every opportunity at No. 12. Scheffler played a smart shot to the green center. Rose drew a strange lie, and playing partner Cameron Young took on the flag but couldn’t make a slightly longer putt. The field averaged 3.259 on Sunday with just four birdies made. McIlroy joined 14 other champions in using the hole to prove his superiority. Golden Bell ruled again.

Although the line Rory took should be an exhibit in out ball rollback debate..... Do we want to live in a world where they can fire with impunity at the Masters Sunday pin on No. 12?

Hard to imagine this guy not grabbing one or more:

Cameron Young. Sustaining the brilliance on display in his Players win, Young didn’t do much wrong playing alongside McIlroy. “I handled it fine, just didn’t make anything,” he said of

starting the day -11 and posting a 73. “That’s the story the week honestly if you look through all four rounds. I had a chip in yesterday and maybe made a putt or 2-over ten feet and really that was it. So I feel like I played the golf I needed to. Just didn’t have the day making anything at all.” Young’s putting for the week was more than fine. He only three-putted once all week (sixth hole Sunday) and had a respectable 115 to rank T19 on a 1.60 average. “If you go through the back nine I pretty much had a birdie chance on every hole and didn't make any. That's how it goes sometimes.” Young has now posted his best finish in the tournament that means the most to him and set the stage for future success at Augusta National. As McIlroy can attest, that’s a pretty handy thing to experience and learn from. And Young seems like the kind of player who will be better for such a close brush with the Green Jacket.

What a great couple of weeks for old-timey phots.  Cam at Augusta with his Dad and the Fitzgerald clan in front of the iconic Hilton Head lighthouse....

This one I would have had in the middle tier:

Justin Rose. The sentimental choice took the lead late in the front nine, only to suffer another crushing Masters loss. “ I was really in control. First ten holes I felt like I was -- yeah, I was. And the mentality was to run through the finish line not just try and get it done. I was playing great, but just momentum shifted for me around the Amen Corner.” Rose bailed right at the 11th, bailed left at 12 and three-putted the 13th after hitting it to 30 feet from 208. “Felt like the crowd was amazing to me all week long. They pulled for me all week long. I felt their encouragement and support. At the end, it kind of goes a little flat. It’s more of a sympathy than anything.” While he still has the drive and skills to win, he’s running out of time. “It was still, nonetheless, very beautiful. But, yeah, another little stinger.” Rose. needs to regroup with the PGA at Aronimink, where he’s won before and in the same city where he captured his 2013 U.S. Open.

He shows what a great guy he is by talking about it, but can't help but hedge a bit by not explaining the momentum shift.  What happened?  It's the oldest bit in  the world.... he saw a scoreboard showing that he was a couple of shots clear and had that, "Holy S**t, Batman, I'm gonna win this thing" moment.  

It's hard because he's such a nice guy, buy we've seen this movie more than once, no?

Geoff devotes the vast majority of his Cutmakers column to CBS, presumably channeling his inner Clifford Roberts:

CBS’s rough finish. The various streams and announcing work produced by CBS were as tremendous as ever, particularly on the streaming side with network-grade shows and enjoyable

announcers who pass the background listening test. You wouldn’t know it because of the wackier-than-usual backlash over shots not shown and some regrettable moments. The streams complementing the main coverage are also as live as golf gets. Meaning, second-screen viewers can see shots immediately, while the main CBS show that is watched by the vast majority (peaking at 20.049 million Sunday) features even more production in the form of visuals, graphics, and other information that is cobbled together for the main audience. That show can’t be everywhere at once to cover golf spread over many holes. This leads to annual complaints about seeing shots well after they’ve aired on Amen Corner Live or Featured Group coverage. Or not at all, as was the case again this year in a few questionable cases (and even though folks can go to the amazing Masters app if they absolutely must see Haotong Li’s 10 on the 13th. The criticism suggesting shots shown on tape are signs of catastrophic failure are odd since, (A) one can get plenty of live golf via the streaming option, and, (B) the notion that covering a golf tournament is the same as a Super Bowl played in a stadium, as NBC’s Kevin Kisner claimed in an embarrassing, obscenity-laden rant about his inability to follow the action while during his soon-to-be one-off Masters Radio stint. (Fun fact: the next intelligent thing Kisner says during an NBC telecast will also be a first for “Kiz”.) (Fun fact 2: his boss at Comcast/NBC is also a member of Augusta National who hopefully had to take time away from much more vital matters to mop up the mess made by his vapid lead golf analyst.)

That said, the “not-enough-live-golf-shots” criticism was legitimate in situations like Friday afternoon’s mistake, when the CBS-produced ESPN coverage missed Rory McIlroy’s dramatic chip-in at No. 17. A roar could be heard while we were looking at another golfer. This roar-in-the-background was a regular annoyance in the 80s and 90s. In 2026, it’s a head-scratcher. The defending champ who happens to be the biggest draw in the field made two birdies in a row and was potentially distancing himself in record fashion. There were only a few groups left on the course. At this point, he should have been getting the Woods treatment of showing everything but bathroom breaks. (We also know from the past that a network gets dinged for all-Tiger-all-the-time coverage.)

I don't disagree about Kiz, who one expects is under significant pressure to be funny.....

But look at the bright side, Geoff.  At least this Rory-induced cheer wasn't accompanied by the mentally-challenged Sir Nick telling us what CBS couldn't be bother showing us.

Here Geoff hints at the long-running ANGC-CBS tension:

After a spectacular West Coast Swing, the shows from Augusta had more out-of-character misses exacerbated by viewers having access to second-screen options almost anywhere they want (Prime, ESPN, Paramount+, Masters.com, Masters app, Telemundo+, etc). This year’s drone work, sound, and updated Amen Corner camera angles were more spectacular than ever. So was nearly all of the camerawork that’s often taken for granted when networks show up with their best practitioners. So there is no question that losing McIlroy’s ball on the 18th for almost a minute was truly bizarre and unprecedented. And it’s still not clear what went wrong since the Masters.com scoreboard’s replay of McIlroy’s shots does (sort of) follow his ball into the sand (albeit not very smoothly, suggesting it may have been a good guess or a hunch by the other 18th green camera operator).

One contributing factor may be related to Augusta National’s well-intentioned love of minimalism. At a typical PGA Tour event, CBS spotters are free to roam and alert the truck on the whereabouts of wayward tee shots. If a camera operator loses the ball, the direct can tell the camera where to look. At Augusta National’s 18th hole, there are tighter restrictions for access to the second half of the hole. This is done in the name of creating the admittedly beautiful look of the player and caddie walking to the green. The on-course reporter also must disappear. It’s an uphill hole where it’s hard to see the outcome of a shot from the fairway.

The national crisis erupting over the finishing blunder may come down to a spotter just not seeing the ball. But having no announcers on the hole may have also delayed a determination of the ball’s final resting spot. Multiple backup systems failed, and a worst-case scenario ensued following McIlroy’s wayward tee shot.

Have you read this?

 Well, why the hell not?

To me, our old friend David Owen nailed the subtitle, especially when you remember who isn't cited.  Roberts was quite the fascinating character and my favorite part was the interaction with CBS after each annual tournament.  The Masters (meaning Clifford Roberts) drove innovation in the broadcasting of golf, while simultaneously constraining it.

To demonstrate, I always cite Bubba's famous playoff shot from the woods on No. 10, endearingly recreated in those commercials this year.  What I point out to folks is that when Bubba hit the shot the viewer had nothing.... No yardage and no sense of what kind of opening he had.  Why?  Because at that point ANGC still precluded the use of an on-course reporter... It's true they now allow Dottie, but that only took fifty years to arrange...

But Geoff is nothing if not constructive:

Here’s a modest proposal: save some bucks by losing the Hallmark Channel reenactments. Instead, run some of those great shots of the past, fly the drone up Magnolia Lane, cut to a pretty course shot with the leaderboard set to some goosebump-inducing Dave Loggins, then get a “hello friends” from Butler Cabin, and get busy showing golf shots so you don’t have to play catch-up the rest of the day. Everyone’s happy! (Except the actors.)

CBS and The Masters may be victims of their well-intentioned efforts to do too much for too many hours at the expense of production precision. They also seem one hole announcer and an on-course reporter short of having the best possible storytelling team. It would be a shame if the 18th hole lost ball causes the tournament and production to pull back from innovating that has pushed golf television forward. The perks for viewers have far outweighed the mistakes.

They have innovated, it's just that they simultaneously constrain innovation.

Shall we get to the fun bits?  Yeah, you're still struggling to pick up on those rhetorical queries....

(Point) Missers, 2026 Masters

LIV, Bryson, Sergio, Code of Conduct violators, PGA Tour profit seekers, crackdowns on patrons, a Par 3 alternative, ESPN, Merch stress, and the new candy bar.

It's an embarrassment of riches....Though this lede photo might come as a surprise:

I'm going to embargo his LIV comments for a bit, but this guy has learned the meaning of karma:

Bryson DeChambeau. After inviting Kevin Hart to hit balls on the big boys range Masters

Tournament Practice Facility ahead of the comedian’s Par 3 caddie gig, DeChambeau played two uneven rounds before heading home a year after contending late into 2025’s final round. Since calling Augusta National a par-67, the not-happening-now $500 million man has been a whopping 126-over, and 16-over the actual par of 72. Bryson’s game won’t grow until he learns to hit better iron shots in majors, where advanced metrics increasingly tell us that approach play is the difference maker, no matter the course. LIV’s top player hit only eight greens in round one, then managed to find 14 in round two, only to triple the 18th after another greenside bunker slash-and-burn job. But Bryson did elaborate on the 3D printed 5-iron he’s created and does genuinely still seem to care when he shows up at a Grand Slam event. “Just going to give what the golf course gives me,” he said after round one. “I have to try to hit my irons better.” Bryson, as a wise philosopher once said, “There is no try.”

 That 18th hole meltdown on Friday as schadenfreudalicious as anything I've seen lately....

Though he did make us wait for this one:

Sergio. The 2016 champion seemed to be in especially miserable form all week, despite achieving his goal of making the cut. “Really, with the way I’m feeling about my game and the way I’d been playing coming in, I honestly gave myself very few chances of doing it,” he said of reaching the weekend. “But the feelings are still very bad, very bad, very ugly.” After driving in No. 2’s fairway bunker on Sunday, Gargia took a giant chunk out of the second tee. It required a cup cutter crew to replace the maimed turf. He appeared to break his driver on a bench, then carried Jon Rahm’s bag down the fairway because his playing partner’s bagman raked the sand. His Point Misser HOFer status was never in doubt, but the final round incident makes him a first ballot lock. He’s since apologized in a pointless statement written by someone else or AI. And as pitiful as the antics were, Garcia accidentally revealed a previously unknown Code of Conduct policy. It explained why he received an unprecedented on-course visit from Rules and Competitions Chair Geoff Yang. Well done, Sergio!

he makes me work too hard.  I can't just title a photo "Sergio Meltdown", I need to specify the event and year.....

My favorite bit about this incident was his playing partner, fellow Spaniard and LIV miscreant Jon Rahm.  Makes for a perfect thought bubble contest, no?  

Life In The Time of (No) LIV - Here were Geoff's comments about LIV's Masters' week:

LIV. If this “golf, but louder” just made its final Masters appearance, what a way to go out. The Saudi Arabia-backed entity appears—gulp—to be-heading toward its inevitable demise. The remainder of this year may feature an entertaining mix of, “we’re not getting paid,” “they lied to us,” “this isn’t what we signed up for,” et. cetera. Oh joy. Heading into The Masters, LIV’s poorly-conceived early-season schedule lacked domestic tune-up events, thereby sending the top game-growers to Augusta in less-than-fresh manner. The toll was evident by uninspired and sloppy play from the 10 who turned up, Tyrrell Hatton’s T3 notwithstanding. There was plenty of crankiness and embarrassment induced by Augusta National’s multi-layered difficulties that no LIV venue could prepare them for for. The once-promising Cameron Smith missed his sixth straight cut in a major. Jon Rahm (T38) barely made the weekend, but at least got a front row seat for Sergio’s Sunday meltdown. Dustin Johnson (T33) reminded everyone that he still plays golf. But with the PIF outlining a new future minus NEOM, Trojena and investments that lose gobs of money and subject fans to persistent DJs, LIV’s demise appears imminent after the PIF decided to end funding this year. Instead of an immediate death, we’ll have more time to ponder how the disruptor tour destroyed legacies and careers. But don’t cry because it happened. Smile because it’s almost over.

 Say it with me... It couldn't happen to nicer group of guys.

I don't actually have huge amounts to add, but shall we see what the TC panel has for us?  Good on you for realizing the rhetorical nature of that question:

Early last week, several news outlets reported uncertainty regarding LIV Golf’s future, indicating the Saudi PIF was on the verge of pulling its funding. LIV CEO Scott O’Neil told his staff via email on Wednesday: “Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted

and at full throttle. While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass.” But O’Neil was more specific about the situation on Thursday, when he said in a TV interview, “The reality is you’re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going.” (The clip was deleted but still circulated online.) On Sunday, Jon Rahm won LIV’s sixth event of the season, in Mexico City. What’s your primary takeaway from what was a wild week for the five-year-old league?

James Colgan: My primary takeaway is simple: The Saudis seem to be getting out of the business of running a golf league, which is a truly momentous takeaway for the entire sport. LIV now enters a period in which it will need to work hard to find a path to survival, and as its CEO, Scott O’Neil, himself said, it seems all options are on the table.

Josh Sens. One takeaway is as old as capitalism: that new businesses — even the disruptive variety — are hard to grow no matter how much money you put into them. That said, for Saudi Arabia, getting out of the business of funding a professional golf tour would not have to mean getting out of golf. A new course just opened in Jura. Others are in the works. The ambition is still to grow the country’s presence in the game, but likely now as a host for golf tourism and tour events. Which, in retrospect, seems like it would have been the better path all along.

Josh Schrock: My main takeaway is that if the PIF pulls out, LIV Golf, as we know it, would need to reinvent itself. O’Neil said he would pursue all avenues to get more funding, but it’s hard to see one or several sponsors willing to bankroll the league at a level that would allow for more nine-figure contracts. O’Neil himself said LIV wouldn’t be profitable for five or 10 years without significant changes.

Reinvent itself?  Remind me how well the original invention was doing?  I'm sure banks are lining up at the door to fund Phil and DJ, but it's more than passing strange to wonder about their path to viability absent PIF funding, when they had no path to viability with said funding.

Apparently they insist on continuing to beat the deceased horse:

To Schrock’s point, can LIV continue in its current form without PIF’s deep pockets? If so, what would need to change?

Colgan: Definitely not in its current form. The league has spent more than $5 billion of Saudi funding to date, and, as Josh noted, O’Neil has already said that the league is several years away from any hope of profitability. Depending upon who steps up to help LIV with funding, I’d say any change is on the table.

Sens: Nope, the league would not be viable in its current form, and I have a tough time imagining what other form it might take. A limited series of world championship events with big overseas dollar sponsorships? But is there really a market for more big-dollar professional golf than we already have? The LIV experiment has shown that certain markets — Australia and South Africa, for example — are hungry for golf star power, but, on a global level, building and drawing eyeballs to a new league is a steep hill to climb.

Schrock: LIV could try and merge with the DP World Tour or reconstruct how it did a lot of things when the PIF spigot was on. But the contracts and purses would have to go down, and, at that point, how many players are going to want to continue when the financial payoff isn’t what it was when they initially signed on? A lot of moving parts to consider, many of which we still have limited to no information on.

I would have just gone with a hard, "No."  That said, the Euro Tour is quite the weak sister, however it's status as the third most prestigious golf tour in the world isn't even secure, as the changes contemplated out of PVB sound like a new tour will be created to sit between the PGA and the KF.

If LIV doesn’t survive past 2026, would you expect the PGA Tour to offer LIV’s top players — Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, etc. — a path back to the Tour by way of a similar agreement that Brooks Koepka accepted?

Sens: For the big LIV names, absolutely. If the Tour wants to be a showcase for the world’s best talent, and it does, it will work out a deal with Rahm and DeChambeau and maybe a small handful of others. The rest, I suspect, will have to play their way back in through other smaller tours.

Colgan: In that theoretical, I’d think the Tour can afford to offer a “Koepka Deal” to Bryson and Rahm … and probably leave the rest of the LIV contingent to serve out their suspensions on the DP World Tour.

Schrock: From a pure cost-benefit analysis, Tour CEO Brian Rolapp would probably love to add Bryson and Rahm back in the fold just as he did with Brooks. But things are not always that easy when you’re dealing with two players who already turned down an opportunity to come back, who might not be as well-liked by the current membership as Brooks, who kept his head down after he left and didn’t take any swipes or recruit other players. The feelings might not be the same toward Bryson, who was a named plaintiff in LIV’s antitrust suit against the PGA Tour and its members, or Rahm, whose departure post-framework agreement rubbed many players the wrong way. Would they immediately add value to the Tour? Yes. But for Rolapp to sell that vision, it’ll be a tricky high-wire act.

The first bit for us to acknowledge and amuse ourselves with is that they've named the only two guys that conceivably matter.  And even that includes a bit of a concession, so the easy answer is, who cares?

These guys decided to play their golf in the Cone of Silence, and I wish them continued enjoyment of the fruits of that decision.  I don't miss any of them, do you?

but I do owe them a note of thanks.  Because amid my hellish week, the LIV provided a much-needed smile.

I will nee to depart at this juncture.  Have a great week and I'll get back when I can.

Weekend Wrap - Rory Redux Edition

You know how commentators are inclined to interpret the effect of a player's breakthrough win.  Yanno, to the effect that it will "Free them up" and open the floodgates?  And do you further remember how dismissive I typically am of such prognostications?  It never happens that way except, yanno, when it does...

Not that I would describe Rory as looking especially "freed up"...

Shall we begin with Geoff's Masters by the numbers?  Again, mostly rhetorical:

• -11 (276): Winning score by Rory McIlroy (2025: 277)

• 364: Days since McIlroy won the Masters

• 6: Career majors for McIlroy (ties Trevino, Faldo, Mickelson)

• 4th: Back-to-back champion (Nicklaus, Woods, Faldo)

• 283-327-327-304-325-349-317-267-335-350-328-346-303-266: McIlroy’s non-par 3 drives in regulation

• 155-17-208-118-136-228-199-124-151-179: McIlroy’s par-4 approaches in the final round

• 6’7”: McIlroy’s tee shot distance to the 12th hole (birdie)

• 15th: Masters champion to birdie No. 12 in the final round

• 11,036: Masters shots hit at No. 12 since the last hole-in-one

• 27/56: Fairways hit by McIlroy (T52) (2025: 35/56)

• 48/72: Greens in regulation (66.7%, T21) (2025: 47/72)

• 17/25: Scrambling

• 1.54: Putts per hole (T3)

• 334.3: McIlroy’s driving distance average (2025: 329.3)

• 0: Eagles by McIlroy (2025: 3)

• 24: Birdies by McIlroy (2025: 18)

• 8: Bogeys (2025: 5)

• 2: Double Bogeys (2025:4)

• 0: Bogeys over the final 36-holes by Scottie Scheffler (65-68)

• 72.859: Sunday scoring average (2025: 72.05)

• 89: Degrees, Sunday’s high with some swirling breezes

Even a weather update, so quite comprehensive....

Now to the atmospherics:

Wire-to-wire. Back-to-back. Ho. Hum. Rory. McIlroy.

Never dull. Sneakily complex. And a year later, winning with less than his best on the kind of crusty (adjacent) golf course that a frizzier, logoed-up younger self once loathed. The greying and

wiser McIlroy took us on a different toboggan ride—Ben Crenshaw’s Champions Dinner description of last year’s heart attack-inducer—this time en route to taking the 2026 Masters.

“This win is just -- I don’t want to say a stop on the journey, but yeah, it’s just a part of the journey,” McIlroy said. “I still have things I want to achieve, but I still want to enjoy it as well.

“I’ve waited so long to win the Masters, and all of a sudden I win two in a row. So I still want to enjoy it. I’ve got a couple of weeks off before I go back to play competitive golf, but I don’t think I’ll go through that lull of motivation or the sort of things that I was feeling last year post-winning this tournament.”

I certainly hope he doesn't repeat last year's summer poutfest, when stiffing the media became his signature move.   

More from Geoff:

With long weekend days to ponder life, watch Zootopia 2 with Poppy, and a deep golf mind capable of pondering possibilities as only intensely observational greats like McIlroy seem capable of, the third and fourth round execution was ragged at times. Those jet trips up here while, uh, rehabbing his back, also kept him clear of tournament golf. But the time away from the Tour and scrutiny of returning to Augusta quieted his mind and allowed McIlroy to drill down on the nuances that emerged at a faster, drier version of Augusta National. The crash course in local knowledge included a decision to keep score ala Jack Nicklaus. The added focus on scoring bolstered an already strong short game that ended up producing ingenious shots and enough distance from a strong cast of 2026 pursuers.

“My scrambling and my short game and my putting, that's what won me the tournament this week.”

As did his play at Amen Corner.

McIlroy has an unusual relationship with the stretch of three holes that tend to play a massive role in determining who dons the Green Jacket.

Saturday’s double bogey at the par-4 11th raised his career scoring average to 4.354 and a career +23 total. And while McIlroy has made just six career birdies at the par-3 12th entering Sunday’s final round, he’s also recorded only six bogeys and one double bogey on the disaster-laden par-3.

And he’s feasted on the dogleg left 13th, where McIlroy was a career 29-under-par entering the final round. He’s made six career eagles there (and that disastrous double in 2025’s final round).

He's certainly correct about his short game, because he hit it all over the yard the whole week, though he did control things better yesterday.  The drive at No. 13 was to me as important as any shot he hit all week.

My strongest memories of yesterday are how each and every player in the mix had that, "Hey, I can win the Masters" moment, here's his take on the kid from Sleepy Hollow:

Now, truth be told, Rory's tee shot on No. 12, was a significant miss that he got away with, no?

The walk up to the 12th tee featured the traditional standing ovation from the Masters patrons. McIlroy was more concerned with wind that (finally) surfaced to throw some Amen into a Masters played with three extremely benign days (by Augusta-in-the-21st-century standards.)

With the wind coming in from the left, McIlroy seemed to hit quickly in a manner that might have hinted at panic.

“This is going back to one of my first-ever practice rounds here,” McIlroy said. “I played a practice round with Tom Watson in 2009, and he said to me on the 12th tee he always waited until he felt where the wind should be and then just hit it. You know, just hit it as soon as you can.

“That’s what I did on 12. It was all over the place. When I stood up on the tee, it felt like it was off the right, and I looked at the 11th flag, it was blowing right to left. But I was patient, and I waited to feel where the wind should have been coming from,and I knew it was just a perfect 3/4 9-iron.

The world has changed in the last 25 years.  Jack's guidance was in the day of five and six-irons, whereas Rory is feathering as nine-iron, but still quite the dangerous line.

What has me amused is that Geoff also included this tracer of that key 13th hole tee ball:

This cel doesn't quite do it justice, because you needed to see it start to draw to know it wasn't a bomb into the pine straw like Thursday-Saturday.

But your humble blogger's mind moves in strange directions, not that you haven't noticed.  To me, there is no shot in televised golf that benefits more from shot-tracer tech than the tee ball on No. 13, so do you remember how long they made us wait for it?  I just asked AI two questions, the first being when was shot tracer first introduced:

Protracer (later Toptracer) technology, which draws a digital line following the golf ball's flight, first appeared on television broadcasts around 2006-2008

 Then I asked it when it first made its way to ANGC:

The Masters officially implemented shot-tracer technology during its television broadcasts for the first time at the 2018 tournament.

Did you see those cute Masters-themed commercials that recreated Bubba's, Rory's and Jack's iconic moments?  Just a reminder of that 2012 Bubba shot that Nantz and Sir Nick are not giving you a yardage nor are they able to tell you whether he had an opening.  Why?  Because as late as 2012 the Lords of Augusta still wouldn't allow CBS to have an on-course reporter.

My other though is that Geoff gave us the tracers for Rory on Nos. 12 and 13, but the one I really want is No. 18....  Yeah, just how I roll.

Let's see what the Tour Confidential gang made of it:

Rory McIlroy won the Masters to become just the fourth repeat winner in the tournament’s

history. McIlroy closed with a 71 to finish 12 under and beat Scottie Scheffler by one. This all, mind you, after he was up by six after 36 holes but lost that all by Saturday night. How did this happen? What’s your takeaway from his win?

Zephyr Melton: Man, that was gritty. Rory obviously didn’t have his best stuff over the weekend — and he said as much during his Butler Cabin interview — but he played just well enough over the weekend to nab another green jacket. There’s something extra impressive in watching someone win without their best stuff, and Rory did exactly that this weekend.

Sean Zak: Excuse the modern parlance, but this Masters felt like a movie, with an opening act, a middle contextualization, some conflict and then a bit of late drama. Damn — it was wildly entertaining! But I think the McIlroy takeaway is that he is just such a different golfer than he used to be. He’s become the best player in the world on firm and fast conditions. He should have won the ‘22 Open at finicky St. Andrews. He wasn’t doing that early in his career, but late-career Rory is just different. More imaginative, less reliant upon conditions and draw-shots, etc. It’s impressive and makes you wonder mostly about his chances for Shinnecock.

Jessica Marksbury: When the tournament was hanging in the balance on the back nine on Sunday, Rory hit some incredible shots at exactly the right time. I’m thinking of the birdies on 12 and 13 in particular, and the amazing putt from off the green that led to the par save on 16. But he was also the beneficiary of adversaries that didn’t push him much down the stretch. This could easily have been Justin Rose’s Masters, but he faded away on the back nine, as did Sam Burns and Cameron Young. Scottie Scheffler tried hard, but his late-momentum birdies on 15 and 16, and missed opportunity on 17, ended up being too little, too late.

We all watched so I think we all know how it happened....

What really struck me is how each of the guys had that "Hey, i can win this thing" moment in which they completely lost their minds and games.  We'll have a Rose reference coming below, but the only exception was Scottie, who couldn't stop making pars when those weren't quite what he needed.

What was the pivotal moment on Sunday? And what did you learn from it?

Melton: I think it came earlier than the viewers might’ve thought in the moment. After a silly double on No. 4 and another shaky bogey on 6, the tournament looked to be slipping from Rory’s grasp. But on No. 7, he calmly found the fairway, hit the proper shot right over the flagstick and then rolled in a birdie putt to stop the bleeding. From then on, he was nails. When you’re a gunslinger like Rory, sometimes all you need is to see one shot go through the hoop.

Zak: I think it was Justin Rose backing off his shot in the middle of the 11th fairway. Rose was in the lead alone at 12 under. If he pars-in, he’s in a playoff. But Rosey backed off the shot and flared his eventual approach wide, leading to bogey. He mangled the 12th hole. He three putted for par on 13. If that goes differently, everything changes. The man who could have really put pressure on McIlroy faded, and the better golfer won.

Marksbury: Totally agree with you, Sean. Justin Rose went from in command to lackluster over the course of three holes. The bogey-bogey-three-putt-par trifecta on 11, 12 and 13 sunk him. And, as the only player with life at that time in the tournament, his exit from contention changed everything.

I love Rose as much as anyone, a really solid citizen that we all would have loved to see get it done.  But he's got a troubling history of, as the Guess Who would put it, coming Undun.

Don’t look now, but McIlroy suddenly has six major titles and two green jackets. Is the man to beat over the next decade at Augusta National Rory McIlroy, or is it fellow two-time Masters winner Scottie Scheffler? And who you got the rest of the year?

Melton: I’m still on Team Scottie. He was the best golfer in the field over the weekend — by a

wide margin — as he didn’t card a bogey in Rounds 3 or 4. And he did all of that seemingly without having his best stuff with the putter. Whatever “funk” Scottie was in early on in the season seems to be behind him, and he should be the favorite for years to come at Augusta National. That said, I won’t be surprised if Rory nabs another green jacket before he decides to hang it up. He seems to have cracked the code on how to win there.

Zak: Yeah, I’m with Zephyr and on Team Scheffler. I’m waiting for him to get some real luck to go his way in the way McIlroy has at the last two Masters. That’s not taking anything away from McIlroy’s brilliance — he’s so deserving. But I just think Scheffler has brought his B-plus game to the last two Masters and is probably on the verge of another special summer.

Marksbury: I dunno guys, I find Rory’s Augusta stats extremely compelling. Scottie has five straight top-10 finishes since 2022, including two wins. But Rory has nine top-10 finishes since 2014, including the last two wins. Recency bias points to Rory for me. But picking Rory apparently also means signing up for a roller-coaster ride that Scottie rarely puts you through.

 Why would we rule out a modern Arnie-Jack arrangement?

To me, the bigger point is what it does for Rory's historical place in the game, as he starts to look like much less of an under-achiever.  But am I the only one seeing a comparison with Phil?  Their games have always shared connective tissue, but remember how Phil enhanced his career perspective with late wins at Muirfield and Kiawah?  This feels much the same, admittedly without the steamer trunk of baggage that is Phil.

But can someone explain Rory's summer of 2025 hissy fit to me?  because that would have been a really good time to start adding major wins, but he was for reasons unexplained angry at the world... Then again, that reminds of Phil as well.

McIlroy pulled away late, but a handful of capable chasers — Scheffler, Rose, Young, Burns, etc. — were still in it down the stretch. Which player is kicking themselves the most about what could have been?

Melton: Gotta be Scottie. That Friday 74 was so un-Scottie-like, and it really put him in desperation mode heading into the weekend. If he scraps together even an even-par round, he’s the one putting on the green jacket this evening and not Rory.

Zak: Disagree! I think it’s Rose. It has to be Rose. The man without the jacket. The man who was in the lead by himself! Scheffler never touched the lead all week. He also has another 20 Masters in his future. Rosey may not have more than a few.

Marksbury: Rose for sure. He had it! It slipped away. Again! No doubt that stings.

Is this a gross or net competition?

In the gross flight, it's a three-way tie among Cam Young, Justin Rose and Scottie Scheffler.

In the net flight, alas, it's not even close, because Scottie already has two of them and Cam Young is, well, young.  Rose in a rout, because his runway is getting very short.

The Masters’ popular Par-3 Contest received some criticism for what some thought was too much celebrity involvement and strayed too far from the Masters’ long-standing “traditionalist” values. What do you think? And how does the Masters evolve without straying too far from the things that make it unique?

Melton: I could do without the cameo appearances from Kevin Hart and Jason Kelce, but I won’t clutch my pearls too much. The par-3 contest is supposed to be fun. So long as that silliness doesn’t spill over into the actual competition, I’m largely unbothered.

Zak: My strongest par-3 take is … I wonder if players were a bit more surprised by the Thursday conditions of the big course because they’ve grown so comfortable writing off their Wednesdays to the par-3 course. There was such universal surprise at the course conditions that I don’t think we see at other majors with this Wednesday intermission. Anyway, I don’t totally hate the strategy by ANGC. It’s not for ME, but I’m as into golf as anyone in the world. There’s a natural pursuit of all governing bodies in all sports of, as the kids say, the casuals. I think they — or maybe more so ESPN — achieved some of that audience.

Marksbury: The Masters is revered for its traditions and decorum for a reason. I think most people watch or attend the tournament eager for that experience. So while I don’t think it’s necessary for the tournament to evolve in any way, I can understand why there is a feeling that it’s important to try new things to reach new demographics. And hey, if those efforts create new golf fans, that’s a win for everyone.

Jess, if we need Jason Kelce to grow the game, we're in a world of hurt.

The event has been unwatchable for years for one understandable reason, now they've gone and added a second.  No, you should get to bring your emotional support comedian to the Par-3.  Just sayin'...  

I said before the event that the gods of Augusta were punishing Bryson for his Par-67 comment.  I think Friday's 18th hole meltdown was retribution for Kevin Hart.  Well earned Bryson.

Who is leaving Augusta National most disappointed, and who won the week without actually winning the week?

Melton: Justin Rose has to be the most disappointed. He’s been oh so close at Augusta National many times, and once again he couldn’t quite get it done. The clock on his career is ticking, and you only get so many cracks at the green jacket. When you head to the back nine with a lead, you’ve got to close the door. He may go down as his generation’s biggest “what-if” at the Masters.

Zak: I would reckon Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau feel pretty disappointed. They were two of the most deserving favorites entering the week and were never once relevant. Frankly, they seem more confused than anything right now. Can’t be a great headspace!

As for who won the week without winning the jacket, I think Collin Morikawa deserves some recognition. He grinded through a bad back all week, made seven birdies on Sunday and garnered a top 10 finish. That was wildly impressive. He said it’ll be one of his best tournaments forever.

Marksbury: Most disappointed: Bryson and Jon are good picks, Z. Justin Rose also, for reasons discussed above. I will also add Cameron Young, as a leader who faded, and Haotong Li, who suffered a triple-quintuple to completely derail his tournament.

Those who won the week: I’ll add anyone who got their hands on a gnome, and the players who finished T12 or better to guarantee themselves a spot in the Masters for next year.

A bad week for LIV in general.  Hard to keep making the caser that their Tour keeps the guys sharp....

What shall we finish on today?  You know your humble blogger, so I'm thinking you'll be ready for this, though I'll lede with this header:

The most catastrophic Masters Sunday meltdown never aired on TV

 That's about Haotong Li's ten, so hold my beer!  I think Geoff is the man for this task:

Garcia Highlights New Conduct Policy

Sergio Garcia’s petulant start to Sunday’s final round revealed a new code of conduct policy that could lead to a penalty or disqualification.

After teeing off at the second hole ahead of fellow competitor Jon Rahm, Garcia slammed his driver into the turf. He subsequently took a swing at a cooler off to the side of the tee and broke his driver.

The entire debacle was caught on Featured Group coverage and to the credit of producers, there was no glossing over the shenanigans. The coverage even returned to show a marshal walking away with the broken driver shaft, an official cleaning up some of the mess left behind, and eventually a maintenance crew using a cup cutter to replace the maimed turfgrass.

Two holes later, Rules and Competitions Committee Chairman Geoff Yang paid Garcia a visit. Yang was issuing a warning to Garcia under a new, unannounced policy that is separate from the Rules of Golf and expected to be implemented at the PGA Championship. The Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson reported that Garcia received a “code of conduct warning” that starts with a warning, invokes a two-stroke penalty for a second violation, and a third violation results in disqualification.

Gents, if this only deserves a warning, you might want to revisit that policy:

You're gonna let this guy play next year?

Gotta love Geoff providing this transcript:

Q. What did they tell you on the 4th hole?

SERGIO GARCIA: I’m not going to tell you.

Q. You talked coming into the week about how frustrating this year has been overall. Is that just a culmination of everything, too? What’s the plan to try to --

SERGIO GARCIA: No, it’s not a combination of everything. It’s fine. It’s what it is. You’ve just got to deal with it.

Q. How much more difficult does it make it strategy-wise with you not being able to use a driver?

SERGIO GARCIA: It makes it very easy. I just have to hit 3-wood all the time. I didn’t have to choose another club.

Q. Your record here since you won is surprising to a lot of us. Is there a theme there or one reason for it? How do you explain that?

SERGIO GARCIA: Bad golf.

Q. Is there something specific here that has happened --

SERGIO GARCIA: Bad shots.

Q. But you can do that anywhere, but you win here and we would think you know how to play this golf course, so there must be more to it.

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, if you don’t hit good shots, you’re not going to score well here. It’s very simple.

Q. You’ve just coincidentally hit bad shots here, a lot since you’ve won. Is it as simple as that?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, unfortunately a lot of bad shots.

Q. Did they give you a warning or something on the 4th --

SERGIO GARCIA: Next question, please.

 Bad golf shots followed by disgraceful behavior.....

It's always time to remind folks of who Sergio is:

Although the "Nothing but net" defense is a classic of the genre.

Do they invite him back next year?  This is why I've made my peace with LIV, they are welcome to give him a venue for such outbursts.

Have to wrap up now.  Would you believe that Friday night my large living room OLED TV decided to go on the fritz?  Perfect timing, eh?  Anyway, my A/V guy is on the way, so I will try to circle back as the week progresses.  Have a great week.

Weekend Wrap - Masters Week Edition

It's the best week of the golf year, one I'll try to not have ruined by dental surgery this afternoon....  No pimiento-cheese for this dude, at least until the ceremonial opening tee shots in the gloaming on Thursday.

As for the weekend reference in the header, not gonna even worry about paying that off.  What happens in San Antonio stays in San Antonio.

Shall we lede with this rather good forecast?

I wouldn't object to a bit more wind than the 6 mph they're showing for Friday-Sunday, but the course should be as firm as they want it.

The Venue - Geoff has been posting up a storm, and even limited to that which is before his paywall leaves much to discuss.  Shall we grab some of his "by the numbers" data?

By The Numbers

• Augusta National Golf Club: Founded in 1932, opened in January 1933

• Original Architects: Alister MacKenzie, Bobby Jones (1933)

• Other architects known to have made adjustments: Perry Maxwell, Robert Trent Jones, George Cobb, Joe Lee/Byron Nelson, Bob Cupp, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Beau Welling

• Yardage: 7,565 yards (up ten yards in 2026)

• Par: 72

• Yards of Walking Between Tournament Tees: 1,236

• Slope and Course Rating: 148, 76.2 (unofficial)

• Course Record: 63 (Nick Price, 1986 third round; Greg Norman, 1996 first round)

• Holes with hazards in play: 7 (2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th)

• Elevation Change: 145 feet from the highest spot (10th tee) to the 11th green (lowest).

• Elevation Rise: 59 feet from the tee to the 18th green

• Rainfall: 8.0 inches in the current calendar year (on pace to be one of the driest in Augusta history)

• Forecast: To good to be true…at the moment.

The 7th fairway.

There will be a quiz in the morning...

 And a separate set of agronomic bullets:

• Fairways: Ryegrass overseed cut toward tees at .375”

• Acres of Fairway: 79

• Average Green Size: 6,486 sq. ft.

• Greens: Bentgrass, cut at .125”

• First: Set of bentgrass greens PGA Tour regulars have played in 2026

• Bunkers: 44

• Largest Bunker: 8th fairway, 6,107 square feet and 100 tons of sand

• Holes With “Penalty Areas” In Play: 2, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16

• Second Cut: Ryegrass overseed trimmed at 1.375”

• Acres of “Second Cut”: 35

• Collars: Bentgrass .250”

• Approaches: Ryegrass overseed .312”

• Tees: Ryegrass overseed .312”

• Number of Course Maintenance Employees: 60

• Number of Tournament Volunteers: 113

• Senior Director of Agronomy: Brent Seyer, GCSAA (16th year, second as director)

• Other Key Personnel: Director of Agronomy, Scott Waddell, Asst. Superintendent, Connor Castor, Asst. Superintendents Kurt Eller, Justin Henderson, Irrigation Senior Manager, Fred Hartenstein, Equipment Manager, PGA professionals J.J. Weaver, Ryan Sharp

I think the biggest surprise might be how few bunkers there are.  They do seem to always be in the right spot, no?

And this might be of interest to see the relative difficulty on a hole-by-hole basis:

What always jumps out to this observer is that start to the back nine.  

Almost no changes to be conscious of:

“The course isn’t real different,” Rory McIlroy said after a visit to Augusta National early in the year.

🚜 Architectural Changes Since Last Time: The quietest off-season in recent memory saw only one official change: the front of the 17th tee has been reduced by 12 yards, with the tee plate relocated to increase the official yardage by ten, to 450 yards.

😢 Notable trees return: Trees behind the 11th and 15th lost to hurricane Helene have returned, as noted by The Quad in February and confirmed by the official map and hole renderings.

And, in a bit of a digression, Geoff talks about last year's tribute pin on No. 16:

How Did The Tribute Play?

Last year’s final round moved away from the traditional and iconic hole location at the par-3 16th.

The upper back right placement was used on Sunday to celebrate Jack Nicklaus’ winning putt from 1975. The tribute coincided with a fairly elaborate rollout by CBS and Masters social media, even though there were complicating factors in re-creating some of the ‘75 magic:

• The green is rolling at least three feet faster on the Stimpmeter compared to 1975.

• The art of landing and keeping the ball on the upper shelf has become a greater challenge with modern speeds.

• The tee was moved up about 20 yards for the final round. Rory McIlroy hit an 8-iron. Nicklaus hit 5-iron in 1975.

The 16th green was “new” after needing to be re-grassed in October, 2024 after a tall pine fell onto the surface during Helene.

The 16th still played to a 3.019 average for Sunday’s final round with 10 birdies and 83% of the field hitting the green. This was in line with recent years, including 2024 when 11 birdies were made in the final round (nine in 2023).

Rory McIlroy parred the 16th after hitting a brilliant shot to ten feet above the hole, setting up one of the scariest downhill putts on the course. He has since said the shot was one of the best from his wild final round.

“After I missed the putt for the eagle on 15,” McIlroy said, “I stepped up and made another really good swing with an 8-iron on 16 and I didn’t make that putt, either. But that was a hole that I wouldn’t say I was worried about it all day, but it was always in the back of my mind because it wasn’t the traditional Sunday hole location.”

Verdict? Nice tribute. And please Lords, don’t ever do it again.

It's a great memory of perhaps the greatest Masters ever (Geoff has another post on an alternative candidate for that title), but a truly horrible pin position.  In fact, heresy alert, it's a pretty bad green in your humble blogger's opinion, with only the one position that works.  But Jack also hit 5-iron there in Geoff's other tribute....

Before moving on, let me just make you aware of a deep dive Geoff has done into ANGC's second hole.  I'll allow him to explain:

The Quad’s annual deep dive into an Augusta National hole continues with the 585-yard par-5 second hole. The selection process is at the whim of the Chief-Senior-Writer-At-Large, who, this year, selfishly decided to dig deep into the history behind one of his favorite greens in all of golf.

(Last year’s deep dive was a two-parter on the third hole: here and here).

So why dig into the easiest hole (statistically) that was always a bit of an afterthought until television coverage expanded to 18 holes?

• No. 2 remains one of the few multi-dimensional par-5’s left in championship golf, depending on where the hole is cut, and elicits a fascinating range of emotions from
  
  players.

• The second is often cited as one of the least-changed holes on the course. By Augusta National standards, that’s a bit like being the Kardashian family member who's made the fewest visits to Dr. Wecantightenthatup. On a scale of One to Bruce Caitlyn Jenner? No. 2’s a strong Seven.

• The second hole features the best and worst of George Cobb’s handiwork at ANGC modification work (though how much anyone can blame him for the landing area changes is very much up for debate).

• Jack Nicklaus called it the worst hole in major championship golf. Way harsh, Jack! What gives?

 Geez, can't remember Jack saying anything that controversial, not least about Augusta.

There's a lot here (and it's a two-part post), including the origins of this old-time bit:

✈️ Origin of the Delta Counter story: The nightmare awaiting balls going into the left trees was dubbed the “Delta Counter” by pro golfer Gardner Dickinson. The 12-time Masters participant suggested players who drove left here should be ready to change their plane tickets since they wouldn’t be making the cut. (Yes, kids, golfers once flew commercial.)

 There's a name I haven't heard in decades, but it's be funnier if he had used Eastern or TWA, no?

And great old-time photos:

No 2 under construction (left) and the finished product, missing the greenside bunker that was in place by opening day (right)

Dive in if you're interested,.

I Saw It On TV - Geoff did a separate media preview, including this focus on our Prime Imperative:

The breadth and width of Prime’s year-one launch for only four hours of weekday coverage has been surprisingly…bold. At least by Masters media partner standards, where promotional pieces are studied as closely as the actual coverage.

Ads for Prime’s debut have been running everywhere. From local and national cable outlets to NBC’s coverage of PGA Tour events (including a surprising live read from Dan Hicks returning from two Texas Children’s Houston Open commercial breaks).

With Augusta National allowing Amazon to sell how the tournament “Now Begins on Prime” looks, smells, and really, really, really seems like a less-than-subtle warning shot at primary weekday coverage rightsholder, ESPN.

Prime’s first moves are exciting from a pure golf and Masters fanboy perspective. There are legitimate indications that Prime’s new pact with Augusta National will be more than just a way to bring in a new partner and cash a check to pay for the next tee extension.

Amazon’s streaming service commenced with a documentary produced in conjunction with Rory McIlroy’s Firethorn Productions. There will be a new Amen Corner feed focusing on stats and other on-screen goodies (even if it sounds as if they’ll be relying on the latest gizmos CBS has developed and leaves out of the shows in deference to the club’s longtime preference for minimizing screen clutter).

He takes the obvious shots at ESPN, which I quite agree adds little to the week:

Prime’s Thursday and Friday windows will be hosted by Terry Gannon, who will guide two hours of coverage featuring “interviews with current stars and special guests, including six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus.” Throw in Prime’s Rory doc, and it’s in stark contrast to ESPN’s often weird approach that screams obligation more than excitement. Under executive Mike McQuade’s watch, the worldwide leader has maintained a stabilizing presence with Scott Van Pelt and Curtis Strange on air, along with Andy North reporting. But ESPN’s inconsistency surrounding the Masters and sometimes unusual attempts at broadening the shows to reach a general audience come off as a lack of full buy-in. They’ve been almost apologetic at times for talking about something other than the NBA as the playoffs approached.

This apathy may explain why golf fans still consistently turn to Golf Channel for pre- and post-round coverage in big numbers, even as ESPN has the right to pop in for things like the Honorary Starters or some early birdie runs. ESPN’s approach generally suggests The Masters is more obligation than honor to cover. (Which is in contrast to its Wimbledon approach, where they generally exude a vibe suggesting it’s a privilege to be there.)

I know, but Golf Channel has guys that actually know golf, whereas ESPN shoves randos down our throats.  And by randos I mean....

News this week of retired Eagles center Jason Kelce handling interviews during the Par 3 Contest has been met with overwhelming derision online. Kelce’s hiring was undoubtedly approved by Augusta National as part of the ongoing and successful effort to make the Par 3 broadcast unwatchable. But the move accidentally revealed another annoyance for Augusta National: ESPN’s propensity for its internal drama to spill out publicly. This time with the Masters getting a mention.

“The Internet goes on to say ‘we don’t need Jason Kelce at the Masters,’” the odious Pat McAfee said on his simulcasted ESPN show. “And that’s probably a valid point if I had to guess. I’m only saying that strictly because we have attempted to be a part of the Wednesday coverage of the Masters at the par-3 thing for three consecutive years now. For the people that are mad about Jason Kelce being a part of the Masters, I have a good piece of news for you: They told us to go to hell.”

I think it's great that we have expanded Thursday-Friday coverage, but the channel-flipping involved is getting way old.

On The Come - Shall we riff on the Tour Confidential panel's musings?  Yeah, that's rhetorical:

Welcome to Masters week, where we won’t see Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson but have a bunch of other storylines ready to unfold at Augusta National. What’s one you’re watching for?

Zephyr Melton: Is Scottie Scheffler’s slump for real? Or has his (relatively) poor play been a

simple case of early-season malaise. If he struggles to find his form at Augusta — where he’s had a boatload of success — it might be time to start ringing the alarm bells.

Jack Hirsh: That’s a good one Zephyr, I really like zoning in on Justin Rose this week. He’s in his mid-40s now, but yet, he comes into this week as the 7th-ranked player in the world and the most recent runner-up at Augusta. It’s incredible to think he’s now lost two playoffs at the Masters. He rebounded from a lull after his win at Torrey Pines with a T13 at the Players. Is this the week he gets a Green Jacket?

Josh Schrock: I second both of the above. Rose would be my top storyline, but I am curious to see what Brooks Koepka has in the bag next week. His major record has been poor since his 2023 PGA Championship win, but he said he fixed a putting issue that has plagued him for two years and was playing good golf until the MC in Houston. Is this the major where Brooks Koepka emerges as a threat?

I have no clue what was up with Scottie, but Meredith and he just had their second child, so not sure this sets up great for him.  But you'll not find Brooks on my bingo card, not that my bingo card has anything to recommend it.

Which big-name player’s recent form has them either trending or fading as the first major of the year approaches?

Melton: I’m buying Ludvig Aberg’s stock heading into Augusta. He’s been in excellent form of late, with three top 10s over his last three starts, and he’s got a great track record in the Masters, albeit in a small sample size. I like Ludvig to be a factor this week.

Hirsh: Tommy Fleetwood is my pick for this week and I think his game fits perfectly for Augusta National. As for his trends? He’s finished in the top-10 in three of his five starts this season, and while he didn’t this weekend in Texas, he was in the mix going into the weekend. I think this is his week.

Schrock: I’m buying Xander Schauffele returning as a major threat. After winning two majors in 2024, he got sidetracked by the rib injury to start last year and never seemed to get his swing right. He has been playing well of late, with the irons leading the way. I think Rose wins but I expect Xander to be a factor come Sunday.

Lots of love for Rosie, and he'd be an awfully popular winner.  But how likely is that storybook ending?

Bryson DeChambeau won both of his LIV Golf starts prior to the Masters, and he’s finished in the top six in each of the last two years. Are you more bullish on Bryson than ever before? And is he your top pick this week among LIV players?

Melton: With Rory and Scottie having a slow start to their seasons, I’d say this is the most wide-open the race for the green jacket has been in several years — so why not Bryson? Hard not to like how he’s trending. It’ll all come down to how well he can control his distance with the irons.

Hirsh: Yawnnnnn, no. A LIV victory just doesn’t have much credibility to me. It was a good sign for Brooks a couple of years ago when he lost to Rahm, but I just don’t see Bryson winning at Augusta. Will he contend again? Probably, but I just don’t see him winning.

Schrock: I agree with Jack. I have a hard time seeing it all come together for Bryson at Augusta. He seems to have figured things out since his MCs in 2022 and 2023, but he contended last year while being mostly unable to control the distance with his irons and he’s been talking about trying to “dial in” his wedges. I think Jon Rahm, not Bryson, is the LIV player who is in the mix at Augusta this week.

Yeah, I still think the Gods of Augusta will not let go of that Par-67 dis....

Are you taking a combination of Scottie and Rory, or the field? And why?

Melton: The field. Neither of the two top dogs have shown enough consistency so far this year for me to back them versus the rest of the field. Does that mean they won’t win? Not necessarily, but the odds favor the field.

Hirsh: The field. Not because I don’t think Scottie and Rory won’t contend, but I’m not convinced Scheffler is comfortable with his driver based on when we saw him last (although it’s been three weeks) and that’s a pretty important club to win the Masters. Rory I expect a little more out of right now, but I don’t think either is in the world beating form they have been in the last couple years.

Schrock: I’ll take the field. Between Scottie’s un-Scottie-like iron play and Rory’s back issue, I think it’s more than likely that someone outside of the top two takes home the green jacket. I am interested to see how Rory plays now that he has finally submitted the mountain at Augusta. I think he contends, but repeating is a monumental task. I’m really not sure what to make of where Scottie’s game is right now and if the iron play is in Augusta shape.

I don't especially like either of those two this week.  

Last year, we asked who needed a Masters win the most, with our panel agreeing it was McIlroy. Well, now that he’s won it, who’s next on your list?

Melton: Justin Rose. He’s had one arm in the green jacket twice, yet couldn’t quite get it done. Father time may catch up soon, and his chances are running out. A green Jacket for Rose may be more meaningful than for any other player in the field. (Plus, a swing that sweet deserves more than one major on the resume.)

Hirsh: Tommy Fleetwood. He was the best player in the world at the end of the year last season and he’s still in great form in 2026. Time to get that major.

Schrock: Agree with Zephyr. It’s Rose. He has held the lead or co-lead at the Masters nine times after Round 1, 2 and 3. That’s third all-time after Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. He’s -18 under par in the last 10 Masters, which ranks seventh. Five of the six players ahead of him have won jackets during that period. It’s time.

Between those two, it's pretty clear who will have the fewer chances going forward.   There's only two guys that have lost two Masters playoffs, Rosie and a guy named Hogan....

What’s your final, parting Masters thought?

Melton: I think we’ll see a hole-in-one on No. 16 Sunday with the traditional funnel pin.

Hirsh: I think this is the year our Alan Bastable wins the media lottery. Ever since Brooks Koepka asked him in a press conference if he had played the course, I’ve been dying to see that come true.

Melton: I second this motion.

Schrock: Ten years after his collapse at No. 12, I think Jordan Spieth holds the 54-hole lead this year and we’ll have another memorable Sunday on our hands at Augusta National.

Geoff has a post up about an ace on No. 12, which would be a far rarer occurrence.

The Greatest Masters Evah? - Another Geoff post celebrates the 40th anniversary of THAT Masters:

All sorts of great bits, first about that putter:

The putter. Nicklaus’s ridiculous-looking Response ZT MacGregor putter was scaled up 32% from the Ping Pal model it was mimicking. An initial prototype was rejected by the USGA, and Nicklaus asked designer Clay Long if it was “some kind of joke.” But after hitting putts with it, Nicklas couldn’t write it off entirely. MacGregor sent two black painted versions to Nicklaus, who put it in the bag while the company ramped up production for the public. But a Honda Classic mishap with the super lightweight putter nearly saw it get benched. During a pre-tournament scouting trip playing with Augusta Chronicle chairman William Morris (yes, the five-time champion needed to be hosted by a member), Nicklaus putted beautifully with the Response yet gave one of the two versions to Morris.

It just looked so damn big....

For me, the strangest moment involving Seve at ANGC was Clifford Roberts asking his height in a typically awkward Butler Cabin moment.  But see what you think of this bizarre exchange from '86:

Seve. Ballesteros was somewhat of a villainous character because of his ongoing, multi-year spat with Deane Beman over membership issues. The language barrier and overall tension surrounding those pesky foreigners, led to this epic story, as relayed in Boyette’s book when longtime sports columnist Furman Bisher asked a question about Ballesteros’ round.

“Seve, you played like you were on a crusade today. Are you trying to prove something to the PGA Tour?”

“Did Deane Beman pay you to ask that question?” Seve said.

“No, it’s a legitimate question,” Bisher said. “Are you on a crusade?”

“You talk too sophisticated for me,” said Seve. “I don’t understand.”

“You ought to know what a crusade is, Bisher said. ‘They started in Spain.”

Dan Jenkins later wrote of the exchange, “Seve didn’t have a kicker line because, like most everybody else in the press building, he’d never learned that the Crusades had actually started in Rome.”

And that ends today's history lesson....

Wither Tiger -  I have a literal answer to the question:

Private jet owned by Tiger Woods lands in Switzerland after DUI arrest

I had heard reports that he got a judge to allow him to travel overseas for treatment, which seems totally on-brand for the guy.  Remember his cos-play therapy for sex addiction?   

Mike Bamberger, who let us know recently that everyone in golf knew Tiger is an addict, is back with an optimistic take that falls way flat (at least to this observer):

The great tragedy of modern life is that everything has turned into a product. Golf is a product, per PGA Tour brass. Journalism is a product. Clicks are monetized. It’s deadening. Hogan,

Palmer, Nicklaus and Watson were dominating golfers and unique personalities who captured our imaginations. But they weren’t products. Tiger Woods has been packaged and sold since he was 3. Woods knows his state of mind that morning in February 2021, when he was pulled out of another wrecked car. Cry for help is a hoary cliché but that crash had to be a cry for help. In the end, not a very loud one. His crash last week, a mile or so from his South Florida home may prove to be a louder one.

This time, his hand was forced, just as it was after his 2017 DUI arrest by police in Jupiter, Fla. In golf’s various and cloistered circles — on Golf Channel, on websites and in newsletters, in a release from the CEO of the PGA Tour — Woods’s statement on Monday was met with relief and admiration. He said he was “stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health.” You hope, of course, he can get the treatment he, by his own admission, needs. But there’s more going on here.

As this second DUI charge in Florida goes down its jurisprudence road, prosecutors were going to require that Woods seek treatment. Woods is trying to avoid a jail sentence here, of any length. He’s trying to avoid the spectacle of a public trial. There’s nothing for him to fight here. There are lawyers and advisors deep in his life. Signing up for treatment, on a voluntary basis, was a smart and necessary first step in an effort to keep a bad situation from getting worse.

Nicklaus wasn't a product?  Maybe, Mike, it's not that Tiger is product, it's that he never developed into a man like Jack or Tom Watson before becoming commoditized.... 

Mike even throws this in:

Woods has been down the treatment road before. In early 2010, some weeks after running over a fire hydrant in the middle of the night outside his home in the Isleworth development near Orlando, Woods reportedly went to a residential treatment facility in Mississippi to deal with addiction issues. His 2017 plea required counseling as well. A statement is a statement. Last year, when Woods turned to X to announce his relationship with Vanessa Trump, he wrote, “Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side!” Please insert air quotes around wrote. Does that sound like Tiger Woods to you? Monday’s sober announcement has a completely different tone, of course. We don’t know anything about Tiger’s state of mind, and he doesn’t owe us that — or really anything.

To me, Mike falls into the rather obvious trap of assuming that going for therapy is the same as taking the therapy seriously.  I assume that Tiger is doing what he needs to avoid prison, but is this, in fact, a wake up call, or just another crisis to be manages.

I'm going to leave you with this from Geoff's media preview post:

I’ve been at this golf writing thing a while now and have seen “stuff” that I’d classify as surreal-adjacent. And a few things I’d classify as downright surreal.

Yet nothing prepares even the most tired eyes for the extended cut of the Tiger Woods arrest body cam videos. Coppola didn’t capture this much footage for Godfather II. And at least Francis used a long lens to not be so damn raw, up-close, and absolutely devastatingly brutal to see.

Where to start? The field sobriety test, wearing the survival blanket on a warm Florida day, the belching in the back seat, the stroll up someone’s driveway to talk to the President of the United States, the fire department breaking the back window of a brand new Range Rover to retrieve his clubs, and, of course, giving the police a history lesson on the “sticks” needing to be removed so that the impound team wasn’t tempted to sell the Scotty that won 14 of 15 majors.

It’s all just a little much with the Golf’s High Holy Days upon us.

Yeah, I've seen this movie before.  But for those keeping a scorecard at home, this is at least the fourth time that Tiger is "getting the help that he needs", yet folks seem completely credulous that Tiger is, in fact, looking to change.  

Have a great week.  As is typical, I've no concrete plans for my blogging schedule, so check back early and often.