This And That

Just a quick scan of some headlines as we gear up to watch far too much golf this weekend:

Match Play Mishegoss - A long first day at the Match Play, which Doug Fergus amusingly, though not terribly accurately, refers to as "...the one time of the year golf is like tennis, minus the grunting."  Are we sure that Duf doesn't grunt even just a little?

In any event, here's what went down on Wednesday:

Wednesday: Round Robin scores

BRACKET NO. 1

Rory McIlroy vs. Jason Dufner - McIlroy, 5&4

Billy Horschel vs. Brandt Snedeker - Horschel, 5&4

BRACKET NO. 2

Jordan Spieth vs. Mikko Ilonen - Spieth, 4&2

Lee Westwood vs. Matt Every - Westwood, 1 up

BRACKET NO. 3

Henrik Stenson vs. John Senden - Senden, 19 holes

Bill Haas vs. Brendon Todd - Haas, 3&2

BRACKET NO. 4

Bubba Watson vs. Miguel Angel Jimenez - Watson, 5&4

Louis Oosthuizen vs. Keegan Bradley - Oosthuizen, 6&5

BRACKET NO. 5
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Jim Furyk vs. George Coetzee - Furyk, 3&2

Martin Kaymer vs. Thongchai Jaidee - Kaymer, 3&1

BRACKET NO. 6

Justin Rose vs. Marc Leishman - Leishman, 3&2
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Ryan Palmer vs. Anirban Lahiri - Lahiri, 4&2

BRACKET NO. 7
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Jason Day vs. Charley Hoffman - Hoffman, 4&3

Zach Johnson vs. Branden Grace - Johnson, 2 up

BRACKET NO. 8
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Dustin Johnson vs. Matt Jones - Johnson, 3&1

Victor Dubuisson vs. Charl Schwartzel - Schwartzel, 5&4

BRACKET NO. 9

Adam Scott vs. Francesco Molinari - Molinari, 5&4
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Chris Kirk vs. Paul Casey - Casey, 22 holes

BRACKET NO. 10
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Sergio Garcia vs. Tommy Fleetwood - Garcia, 2 up
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Jamie Donaldson vs. Bernd Wiesberger - Donaldson, 1 up

BRACKET NO. 11

Jimmy Walker vs. Gary Woodland - Woodland, 19 holes

Ian Poulter vs. Webb Simpson - Simpson, 3&2

BRACKET NO. 12
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J.B. Holmes vs. Marc Warren - Warren, 2&1

Brooks Koepka vs. Russell Henley - Koepka, 1 up

BRACKET NO. 13

Rickie Fowler vs. Harris English - Fowler, 1 up

Graeme McDowell vs. Shane Lowry - Lowry, 1 up

BRACKET NO. 14

Matt Kuchar vs. Ben Martin - Martin, 1 up

Hunter Mahan vs. Stephen Gallacher - Mahan, 7&6

BRACKET NO. 15

Patrick Reed vs. Andy Sullivan - Reed, 2&1

Ryan Moore vs. Danny Willett - Willett, 3 up

BRACKET NO. 16

Hideki Matsuyama vs. Alexander Levy - Matsuyama, 5&4

Kevin Na vs. Joost Luiten - Luiten, 19 holes

Rex Hoggard summarized it thusly:

SAN FRANCISCO – The new-look WGC-Cadillac Match Play clung to an old modus operandi on Wednesday. 

For all the tinkering – new format, new venue, new sponsor – the basic blueprint was unchanged on Day 1, which is to say the status quo remains irrelevant at the PGA Tour’s only individual match-play outing. 

Put another way, betting chalk at the Match Play can be costly.

I was unfamiliar with that expression, but it appears that betting chalk means to pick the favorite.   But now might be a good time to remind everyone that the sainted Bobby Jones was reluctant to enter events where matches were only eighteen holes, for the very reason that the outcome of each individual match asymptotically approaches a coin toss.  Jones felt that over 36 holes that superior talent would have a sufficient opportunity to prevail...

I should also note that I saw little of it, enjoying one of the best days of the spring with my Met. Golf Writers (the one perk of this gig) homies, including an introduction to Roma's Pizza.

Scanning results I'd note that I'm most surprised by the Kooch and Rose losses (and I'll add Ryan Moore as well), though this is what happened to the former:

I'd also note that those touting players with good match play histories didn't fare well, as that list invariably includes folks like Jason Day, Ian Poulter and the aforementioned Ryan Moore.

Hard to defend against that....So how was the level of urgency?  Rory, who was fortunate to play poorly and win easily against the suddenly-clueless Duf, had this to say:

“I’m not sure the urgency on this Wednesday is right there,” McIlroy said, comparing it to the one-and-done format used in the past. This week, players are guaranteed three matches. “It’s very important to win any match, but obviously your first match. You’re facing a bit of an uphill struggle if you don’t win that one today. … All of a sudden, you’re not in control of your own destiny.”

 For the 32 losers I'd argue that it's more than a bit uphill, but the loss of control is spot-on.  I haven't gone back to look at my picks on a group-by-group basis, but if there's one word that comes to mind from a quick scan of the results, it would have to be "Toast."

Here are your matches for today (times are EDT):

12:50 p.m.: Jim Furyk Vs. Thongchai Jaidee
1:00 p.m.: Martin Kaymer Vs. George Coetzee
1:10 p.m.: J.B. Holmes Vs. Russell Henley
1:20 p.m.: Brooks Koepka Vs. Marc Warren
1:30 p.m.: Bubba Watson Vs. Keegan Bradley
1:40 p.m.: Louis Oosthuizen Vs. Miguel Angel Jimenez
1:50 p.m.: Rickie Fowler Vs. Shane Lowry
2:00 p.m.: Graeme McDowell Vs. Harris English
2:10 p.m.: Dustin Johnson Vs. Charl Schwartzel
2:20 p.m.: Victor Dubuisson Vs. Matt Jones
2:30 p.m.: Adam Scott Vs. Paul Casey
2:40 p.m.: Chris Kirk Vs. Francesco Molinari
2:50 p.m.: Rory McIlroy Vs. Brandt Snedeker
3:00 p.m.: Billy Horschel Vs. Jason Dufner
3:10 p.m.: Hideki Matsuyama Vs. Joost Luiten
3:20 p.m.: Kevin Na Vs. Alexander Levy
3:30 p.m.: Justin Rose Vs. Anirban Lahiri
3:40 p.m.: Ryan Palmer Vs. Marc Leishman
3:50 p.m.: Jimmy Walker Vs. Webb Simpson
4:00 p.m.: Ian Poulter Vs. Gary Woodland
4:10 p.m.: Henrik Stenson Vs. Brendon Todd
4:20 p.m.: Bill Haas Vs. John Senden
4:30 p.m.: Matt Kuchar Vs. Stephen Gallacher
4:40 p.m.: Hunter Mahan Vs. Ben Martin
4:50 p.m.: Jason Day Vs. Branden Grace
5:00 p.m.: Zach Johnson Vs. Charley Hoffman
5:10 p.m.: Sergio Garcia Vs. Bernd Wiesberger
5:20 p.m.: Jamie Donaldson Vs. Tommy Fleetwood
5:30 p.m.: Jordan Spieth Vs. Matt Every
5:40 p.m.: Lee Westwood Vs. Mikko Ilonen
5:50 p.m.: Patrick Reed Vs. Danny Willett
6:00 p.m.: Ryan Moore Vs. Andy Sullivan

This strikes me as the least interesting of the three days of matches, the issue will be whether the intensity picks up.   It better for yesterdays losers, or they'll be playing Friday for nothing.

Haters Are Gonna Hate - The players seem a tad apprehensive about U.S. Open venue Chambers Bay.  The hater-du-jour is Ryan Palmer, who had this to say:

But … "We played it soft. The greens were rolling 9s (on the Stimpmeter). If they get it

rolling 10 and 12, it will be interesting," Palmer said of the massive green complexes on the course. The greens feature large mounds, plenty of bumps and are largely unpredictable and will bring luck and plenty of it into play. "Put a quarter in the machine and go for a ride. 

" … The green complexes are something else. With some of the pin placements, you will see some guys play it 30 yards left, 30 yards right or 30 yards long, and next thing you know you'll have a 2 footer. Or you'll be 75 feet from the pin. … You have to spend so much time on the greens, practice rounds are going to take eight hours. Every green has like five or six greens on it."

I speak the native language of Tour pros, and by "Interesting" he means, "Are they out of their effing minds?"  Not a fan of the "Ribbon tees" either:

"(Davis') idea of tee boxes on down hills, up hills and side hills is ridiculous. That's not golf. I don't care what anybody says," Palmer said. "It will get a lot of bad press from the players. It is a joke. I don't understand it. I just don't know why they would do it."

Gotta agree with Palmer here... Though as Steve DiMeglio makes clear in the linked piece, grumbling about U.S. Open venues has a storied tradition...

Future Venues -  The Boston Globe informs that we're going Back to the Future in terms of U.S. Open venues:

If all sides can reach an agreement, the 2022 US Open will be played at The Country Club in Brookline, the Globe has learned. 

The US Golf Association has accepted The Country Club’s invitation to bring golf’s national championship back to the club’s composite course for the fourth time, and first since 1988. The US Open also was held at The Country Club in 1913 (won by 20-year-old Brookline amateur Francis Ouimet) and 1963. The club hosted the Ryder Cup in 1999, and most recently was the site of the 2013 US Amateur.

I agree with the spirit of this comment from Shack:

This sets the USGA for a striking run of historic classic venues, starting with Oakmont in 2016, Shinnecock Hills in 2018, Pebble Beach in 2019, Winged Foot in 2020, TCC in 2022 and Los Angeles Country Club in 2023.

I took the staging of the 2013 U.S. Amateur at TCC as a clear statement that the Open had moved on from that venue.  If the club can still manage an Open, then how do you pass up the opportunity to celebrate the centenary of Frances Ouimet,  The Greatest Game Ever Played as it were, at that site?  You wanna grow the game?  How about seizing the opportunity to teach a new generation about a poor caddie that took down Vardon and Ray?

RIP, Calvin Pete - Wow, first Charlie Sifford and now Calvin Peete:

Peete, who died Wednesday morning at 71, was as unlikely a champion as golf ever

produced. There was his upbringing; he was one of 19 kids from his father’s two marriages and was a high school dropout who worked in the fields “from sunup to sundown,” People magazine once wrote, “or, as he would say, from ‘can to cain’t.’” He had diamonds implanted in his two front teeth and sold jewelry to migrant farm workers. He did not take up golf until he was 23, and in a sport that preaches left arm straight, his was permanently bent from falling off a tree and breaking it.

Peete was an absurdly straight hitter of the ball using equipment that put way more spin on the ball than today's players can understand.  People will remember him for being the first black player invited to Augusta, but it was in no was in no way an affirmative action invite:

He not only took up golf, he became proficient at it, winning 12 tournaments, including the Players Championship in 1985. Eleven of those victories came from 1982 through 1986, more than any other player, and spent 20 weeks in the top 10 in the World Ranking. He won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average in 1983. Jack Nicklaus was second. He also played on U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 1983 and 1985.

RIP.