Weekend Wrap

Lots of interesting stuff to jam into this delayed WW.  

Jordan Rules - That's quite the three-week run for the young man, though he seems to show little respect for his elders:

Jordan Spieth obliterated the competition at the unofficial, 18-player Hero World

Who knew that Frank was the trophy?

Challenge at Isleworth, extending his lead to as many as 12 strokes before signing for a final-round 66 to win by 10 over Henrik Stenson (69). 

It was the Texan Spieth’s second consecutive win, coming one week after he won the Australian Open by six strokes. 

“It was a one-horse race,” Stenson said. “All the rest of us had to do was battle it out for second, really.”

And Stenson did hold on to win the "B" Flight.  It's difficult to know how much credit is due for winning an 18-person event, albeit with about 15 show ponies among the 18, but a ten-shot beat-down has to be acknowledged.

As for the tournament host, Adam Schupak has this summary:

Only Tiger Woods could finish tied for last, a full 26 strokes behind the winner, Jordan

Spieth, and still claim this week a victory of sorts. That’s because despite shooting an even-par round of 72 in the final round of the Hero World Challenge, Woods passed an important test. He finished with his health intact. 

“First things first: playing a golf tournament without being in pain, without having to call my physio every day or having to put out fires with my body,” he said. “I’m in absolutely no pain, which is nice.” 

After a long sabbatical, Woods got off to a nervy start with a 77 in his first competitive round since the PGA Championship. But he made steady improvement the next two days, posting 70 and 69. A noticeably thinner Woods hit nine of 14 fairways in the final round, nuking a couple of drives at least 40 yards past playing competitor Steve Stricker.

It's a sign of what we've come through that the mere act of completing four rounds is an accomplishment, but there you have it.  The chipping drew most of the commentary, though the putting seems to be a serious concern as well.

One last note before we move on...I have no issues with the silly season, and who among us could turn down the chance to win a cool mil by beating a mere seventeen players?  But in the last few years they've been awarding world ranking points for this event, which I find quite outrageous (OK, the OWGR are admittedly not important enough to waste scarce outrage on, but you take my point).  It's field is determined essentially by whether Tiger likes you, and is so small as to make the results meaningless.

So, imagine my surprise at this.  Tiger finished, there's no other word for it, last.  OK, technically T17, which in the Masters wouldn't suck, but in this event no one shot a higher score than his.  So you'll no doubt be pleased to earn that he was awarded 3.16 world ranking points for finishing dead friggin' last!  Great system there, guys.

Anchor What? - Mike Walker informs us that Keegan Bradley had a good week with a conventional, read: Legal, putter:

The USGA and R&A’s ban on anchored putting goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2016, but

Bradley is getting a head start on changing to a shorter putter this week at the limited field event. It’s working, too. Bradley is in second place after three rounds, seven shots behind leader Jordan Spieth. 

"I've had five years and hours and hours of practice that are now taken away from me," Bradley told the Associated Press "But it's fun to come out here and prove to everybody and myself that it's not a big deal. This is probably the best three days of putting I've had in a couple of years."

I'm delighted to hear that it's no big deal, though you'd be hard-pressed to reach that conclusion from the whining.. Golf.com has a slideshow of great moments in anchored putting, including this item:

1965: Richard T. Parmley acquires a patent for what is described as a “body-pivot” putter. Let’s cut the fancy lingo. It’s a belly putter.

  He's Back - Boy, just when you write a guy off, he comes roaring back and wins his third major:

Gotta love the over-sized cardboard check for petty cash.

John Daly won a professional event for the first time in 10 years on Saturday at the Beko Classic, a three-round pro-am event in Antalya, Turkey. 

Shooting an even-par 72 in the final round, the two-time major winner Daly held on to win the event by one stroke. Darren Clarke was also in the field of the Beko Classic, an event sanctioned by the PGAs of Europe. Daly’s previous win before Saturday was at the 2004 Buick Invitational.

As the saying goes, water finds its own level.  Just remember, #nomoresponsorsexemptions.

Starting Them Young:   I'm not going to waste many words, just click here and watch the funniest reaction to a missed putt you will ever see.

I do want to add that the young man is well within his rights, as that short of a putt on aerated greens should absolutely have been conceded.  

Shark Shootout Preview - It's Shack v. Shark, as Geoff posts at The Loop a preview of what to expect from the Fox crew:

For the first time since Golf Channel's 1995 debut, there is a new network in town. Fox

Sports makes its golf telecasting debut during this week's Shark Shootout when they handle production of the event's Thursday through Saturday finish. The announce team, led by Joe Buck and Greg Norman, will debut on Fox's Saturday final round telecast. Golf Channel televises the first two rounds while most of Fox's announce team will be practicing in a separate facility on-site.

According to producer Mark Loomis, do not expect a full test run of the U.S. Open telecast look that Fox takes over in 2015, but there may be glimpses of the "fresh and innovative" approach promised by the USGA when announcing the Fox deal.Loomis hopes to introduce more camera angles showing shots from behind players, offering the player's perspective instead relying heavily on rear-green view that has been the standard since golf broadcasting began.

What am I missing?  Isn't every shot on every network shown from behind the player?  In a post at his own place, Geoff has this quote from the GWS:

“One of the most important discussions that we have internally in concert with the USGA, is how do we reach out to the millennial?” Norman said. “ ... I want to see the youth get back into the game. 

“How do we do it? If we do it right, the game of golf will be the big benefactor.”

I may have to tune in just to see the Shark worshiping at the altar of millennials.  As an experienced blogger, Shack knows to hide the bad news at the bottom of his post:

That said, I spoke to Fox's Mark Loomis, referred to by Norman in the Hardwig story by the Shark as "their technical guy," and Loomis confirms there will be no Fox robots. And we all know millennials won't be able to relate without the robots.

True that!

What's Mom Wearing? -  World No. 1 was seen taking in a Philadelphia Eagles game (Rory, have you tried watching professional football?) and hilarity ensured:

Philly @PhillyLabLover

Follow

@shanebacon Rory doesn't seem worried. Wore his mamma's coat to the eagles game today.

4:39 PM - 7 Dec 2014

That's really quite the look.  Most went with the Mom meme, though to me it looks more like he lifted it off a homeless guy.

Q-School, Distaff Version - The ladies held their version of Q-school last weekend, that most gut-wrenching of all events that determines the future course of careers.  And, I'm glad to say, one golfer named Woods had a good week:

Nobody handed Cheyenne Woods an LPGA card. She earned it the old-fashioned way, playing on developmental tours to earn her stripes and then grinding over a 3-footer for par on her 90th hole of LPGA Q-School to realize a lifelong dream. 

“It feels so good to know the work that I put into it has paid off, and it wasn’t given to me,” said Woods, who is the niece of Tiger Woods. “It was me going out and playing 90 holes of solid golf.

She rebounded from a second-round 79, so she gutted it out.  Others earning their card included Minjee Lee and Ryan O'Toole.  Charlie Hull just missed and earned conditional playing privileges.

Presumably marketing to the lucrative Maggot demographic, Golf.com provides a gallery devoted exclusively to Tiger's niece:

I'm guessing that she won't hurt LPGA ratings.