Mid-Week Musings

Belated apologies for yesterday's unexplained absence, as I was off at Siwanoy with the Met. Golf Writers Association.  You know, business....

The Mighty Kim - Nothing screams Silly Season quite like an Anthony Kim Sighting, and this time the Yeti actually speaks, as in sitting for an interview with someone named AP:

"Golf is a fond memory of mine," Kim said Tuesday, his first interview in three years. "I've been watching more and more. I miss the competition a little bit. Watching these young guys like Jordan Spieth is bringing me back to watch." 

Is it enough to bring him back to play? 

Not yet. Maybe not ever.

I'll take the latter for $50.   Here's more:

He earned just over $12 million in five full seasons on the PGA Tour and says he saved up more money than people realize. The stories and photos on social media over the years painted a wild side to Kim. He doesn't deny he lived different than most golfers, nor will be apologize. 

"If you don't like the way I live, change the channel. You're the one who tuned in here," Kim said. "A lot of the golf public may not appreciate the way I live, which is by my own rules. But I give everyone respect. I'm not rude to anyone. And I treat everyone the same."

I'd put Kim in the same category as John Daly, possessed of great natural gifts but a train wreck of a personality.  Kim blames his injuries, and isn't it funny how that so frequently happens on the wild side...  though that suggestion to change the channel seems apt...consider it done.

 Of Seasons Past and Future - That Spieth kid had a pretty good season, you'll no doubt agree... But you know who else will be in a higher tax bracket this year?  Yup, Michael Greller:

Assuming Greller earned the typical tip, he brought home $1,275,453 in just those last five events where he would be receiving a payout. Add that to his previous earnings up to the Open Championship, and he's brought in a cool $2.14 million this year. Not bad for a caddie!

That squeezes Greller into a tight spot between Russell Henley ($2.11 million) and Phil Mickelson ($2.15 million), 39th on the 2015 PGA Tour money list -- more than 220 other PGA Tour players. When you're making almost as much as Lefty, you're in a good spot.

This item is pretty much a perennial for the lucky caddie whose player wins the $10 mil large, but that guy has rarely had the kind of season that Jordan had.  But the curmudgeon in me notes that  a player that can't earn more than a caddie probably shouldn't be a Prez Cup captain's pick, and I fear they'll earn the same number of points there.

Looking towards 2016 2015-16, Cam Morfit is re-balancing his portfolio in reaction to prevailing market conditions.  He leads with this seemingly non-controversial step:

Tiger Woods -- Sell. This is a no-brainer what with Woods on the shelf again after yet another operation on his balky back. Plus, he’ll turn 40 in December. How long before he gets his speed back now? Sigh.

Cam, I think you misspelled "Dump", but of greater import is that a sale requires a willing buyer... unless you're thinking this a a penny a lot transaction.

But I can't agree more strongly with this:

Rory McIlroy -- Buy. You think he’s going to wreck his ankle playing soccer two years in a row? He looked awesome in winning the WGC-Match Play and Wells Fargo and won’t be too happy about having done so little of consequence during the Summer of Spieth/Day. Rory is due for a rebound.

Especially as Rory seems to be in an every other year mode.  He's gotta be hungry and itching to remind folks that he's still relevant.

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory -  College golf is on the upswing, combining a great format (team match play) with Golf Channel coverage.  So, what could go wrong?  Well, if you think golf has too many rules, welcome to the bizarro world of the NCAA:

SMU's men's golf team has been banned from postseason play and will incur scholarship

reductions because of "multiple violations" that involved "recruiting and unethical conduct," according to an NCAA report released Sept. 29. 

"The program is disappointed by the news," SMU head coach Jason Enloe told Golfweek. "We have a great group of young men that have had a couple nice runs in the NCAA the last couple of years. We are heartbroken that we won’t have another opportunity." 

The decision handed down by a Division I Committee on Infractions panel means that Bryson DeChambeau, the reigning NCAA champion, will not be able to defend his title in the NCAA Championship on May 27-June 1 in Eugene, Ore.

The violations occurred when Josh Gregory, who resigned in 2014, was the coach.  But as we've seen in the more highly-promoted college sports, the penalties are assessed long after the fact on kids that have no responsibility for the sins of their elders.  Here's what Gregory had to say:

It’s a crushing blow for SMU’s program, which has risen to national prominence in recent years. Two years ago, Gregory helped lead his alma mater to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time, and last year DeChambeau became the first NCAA champion in school history.

“I’m embarrassed about what happened,” said Gregory, who resigned in August 2014. “I feel terrible for the kids – those are the ones I feel worst about. It just makes no sense whatsoever. Throw the book at me and give all the penalties to me, but the kids are the ones who suffer. It’s simply garbage.”

If you're interested in such things, give a listen to this Golf Channel coverage that includes an interview with Josh Gregory.  Not only do the charges sound fairly trivial, but Gregory disputes many of them.  He seems credible to me in acknowledging mistakes and in simply being available to publicly take the heat, but you can decide for yourself.

More importantly, why do we need a massive enforcement regime to protect college golf?  We all understand the sleazy underbelly of college football and basketball, but that's the result of the massive revenue streams to successful programs.  We trust the players to keep their own scorecards, but we have to control when a coach can call a recruit's mother? 

Government, Looking Out For Us - I could write one of these screeds on a daily basis, though a golf tie is a relative rarity.  But today comes word that Lefty will have to stick to his day job:

Phil Mickelson said on Tuesday that he is being excluded from further work on the Torrey Pines North Course renovation that has been based on his company’s three years of preparation and design. 

In a press release, Mickelson said that a pending California Fair Political Practices Commission “ruling” will result in him not being able to work on the project. 

According to Mickelson, “the ruling holds that any person or company that worked on preliminary designs may not participate in the design and/or construction resulting from this Request for Proposal and its ensuing contract.”

I have no particular expertise to evaluate Phil's concept for the project, but you might think that his love of and ties to the venue would be an asset.  You'd be wrong of course, as you failed to consider whose pockets are being lined.

Here's more from Phil:

Noting the doubling of the project budget in his press release, Mickelson said, “My vision was to make Torrey Pines North more environmentally sustainable, more enjoyable for amateurs of all abilities, more challenging for PGA Tour players and we were planning to do it for less than $6 million. The city and Golf Division’s $12.6 million budget is far higher than we expected or intended. 

“It really is unfortunate. San Diegans and visitors deserve a better North Course but they don’t need or want one that costs as much as this one will.”

 Just another shovel-ready rpoject that we'll get to early in the 22nd century.

The Prez Cup, Weirding Me Out - Is their something in the water in South Korea?  I'm as favorably disposed to this event as anyone, as team match play is da' bomb.  

But first we had this bizarrely-androgynous announcement of the attire for the teams, including these outfits for the opening ceremony:

You guys are aware that this isn't the Junior Presidents Cup, right?

And  here are the U.S. team outfits for the four days on competition:

I'm gonna go way out on a limb and speculate that Jay Haas is a fan of grey pants... but, at the risk of courting racism allegations, for some unexplained reason I don't find those four guys particularly convincing as, you know, Americans.  

Then comes this really bizarre promo, featuring similarly androgynous avatars:

We'll just call it The Metrosexual Open.

Weekend Wrap

I missed the blood moon (who schedules these things?  The same guys that did the President's Cup?), we'll find out later today that there's life on Mars, but the really big news is that the FedEx Cup makes perfect sense.

FedEx Finale - From my little anecdotal vantage point it seemed that this was the year that it finally metastasized for folks that the FedEx Cup was one mixed-up nonsensical mess.  As just an example. I had lunch with our head pro John Reeves yesterday and he was spinning scenarios in which Stenson finished second and still won the ten mil large, and he was quite aware that the Swede hadn't won a thing since the Carter Administration...

So of course Henrik fades, as he's recently wont to do, and that Spieth kid is the last man standing....our Commish is one lucky stiff.  Now if he were a smarter man he'd seize on that as an opportunity to retire....but he's been throwing cold water on those hopes.   

So, how great was the kid's year?  Well, pretty great to be sure.... certainly no one wins two majors, especially their first two, in an off year.  OK, first up is Steve DiMeglio and he goes with the "W" word:

ATLANTA – With dreary skies above and a saturatedEast Lake Golf Club below, Jordan

 Spieth capped a watershed season on Sunday by winning The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola and the FedExCup. 

Having said it already was a dream season, the 22-year-old Texan put an exclamation point on the year and one of the best campaigns in history by holding off playing partner Henrik Stensonand a few late chargers to win the season-finale. With a final-round 1-under-par 69 at mushy East Lake, Spieth finished at 9 under and four shots clear of Stenson (72), Danny Lee (65) and Justin Rose (66) to win his fifth PGA Tour title of the season.

Heh, that's a good one, Steve, using watershed when the week was notable mostly for its abundance of the wet stuff.  And would this be a good time to note that he beat all of twenty-seven other guys when they were forced to play lift, clean and cheat?

Doug Ferguson gives us some good insights into the young man's prep:

Even when he missed the cut in the opening two playoff events, Spieth knew he could atone for it all by winning the Tour Championship. He showed up Monday morning to get to work on the range, and Sunday morning was even more impressive. Spieth arrived three hours before his tee time, dressed in tennis shoes as he went to the practice green. 

“Early grind,” caddie Michael Greller said. 

They only do that at the majors, and Spieth approached the Tour Championship that way. Ultimately, that’s what finished off his big year.

I'd guess that Commissioner Ratched got a little woody at the comparison of his little exhibition to a major....though I thought this capture the magnitude of the event far more accurately:

Stenson made a $1 million putt of his own, though it was the least he could do. He was three shots behind when he shanked his shot from the 17th fairway and made a double bogey. That dropped him into a four-way tie for fourth and moved him to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup, but he bounced back with a 60-foot birdie putt on the last hole to tie for second and finish No. 2 in the FedEx Cup for a $3 million bonus.

So he beat guys that were shanking it?  Let's just say that when Golf Channel runs this tape on a future Tuesday night, I'll be watching paint dry or the Jai Alai Network instead.

Joel Beall takes a shot at putting Jordan's season into perspective:

While there are parallels to his contemporary McIlroy -- lest we forget, Rory has four majors of his own at age 26 -- the go-to similarity in analyzing Spieth has been Tiger Woods. It's a juxtaposition Spieth has shied away from, but there is evidence to the contrary. 

Woods is the youngest Masters winner, but Spieth grabbed his second major at an earlier age. Spieth is nowhere near the neighborhood of Tiger off the tee; Woods could only hit approach shots like Spieth in his dreams. Both of their scrambling abilities left opponents in awe, and the hole seemed to double in size when attempting putts over 20 feet.

That's quite the heady comparison, but how do you avoid it when you win two biggies at age 21.  Please don't misinterpret my churlishness above, it was quite the remarkable achievement, I'm just not that impressed with this latest piece.

But I suspect the Tiger comparison will seem a bit silly in a few years.... noting that Jordan won his second major at a younger age than Tiger (and I do hope he sent DJ a thank-you note) seems like bragging that a horse stayed with Secretariat for the first 100 yards of the Belmont Stakes.  That first Masters was something, but it's what he did from late 1999 through 2006 that made him Tiger Woods.

Jordan is going to have a great career, but he doesn't have a game that will intimidate and he'll need to be very much on to win big events.   But this was a lovely seen, and we're blessed with great young talent in the game, talent that comes with hall-of-fame character as well:

The first person to greet him was his younger sister, Ellie. His parents, girlfriend, grandfather and high school friends from Dallas were at East Lake to watch another amazing performance in a year filled with them.

It will be fun watching him grow up and battle Day, McIlroy, Fowler and the rest of the chase pack.  The only downer is that the Masters, the next meaningful golf, is six plus months away.

Blue on Blue -  When the hated opposition is fighting (Spoiler Alert:  not about Hillary), one needs to just sit back with a bowl of popcorn:

Paul Casey is ready to rule himself out of playing for Europe in the Ryder Cup in

Minneapolis next year, in a move that would send shockwaves through the European game. 

The Englishman is currently ineligible because he is not a member of the European Tour but, on the back of his fine season on the PGA tour and re-establishing himself among the world’s top 30, he was widely expected to rejoin in January. 

However, Casey’s disenchantment with the European Tour is such he is showing little inclination to make the move. He is due in London next week and hoping to meet new chief executive Keith Pelley before making a final decision. Asked by Sportsmail if he was leaning towards staying away, he replied: ’That would be a totally fair assumption.’

Our two kajor tours have created quite the mess of a schedule, and I'll remind you that we recently saw Martin Kaymer lose his PGA Tour card for next season, exactly one year after winning that Tour's premiere event.  

Now Casey still holds a grudge, as he was overlooked by Monty for a Captain's Pick in 2010 depsite being in the Top Ten in the OWGR.  But this is the substantive part of the argument:

One change Casey would like to see, as would the other American-based British players, is a reduction in the required 13 events for membership. Playing in the Ryder Cup has long been the carrot with which the tour persuade players to commit to this number but Casey appears in the mood to become the first player of true stature ever to call their bluff. The way he is playing right now, and given it is a Ryder Cup being played in America, his absence would be a huge blow to pulling off a successful defence.

Casey is to meet with new Euro Tour majordomo Keith Pelley to discuss, and it seems inconceivable that something won't be worked out.  My guess is a 2016 exemption justified based upon the shockingly insane calendar that is 2016 caused by the Olympics.  Remember, you heard it here first.

The Same But Different - The played a Senior Tour event at Pebble Beach and a reported six people watched the broadcast... and I was one of the six.  The reason is that it's our first look at the new 17th green.  Shack has the goods:

It's basically restored to its original scale.  It's quite the amazing thing, but decades of bunker shots expand the contours of the bunker and encroach on the green.  The result was that at the 2010 U.S. Open the players were laying up into that front bunker because that back section of the horglass wouldn't hold their shots.  

Now where do things stand with the 14th green?

Dawson Unplugged - Retiring R&A Prez Peter Dawson was notably quiet when the Trump furor exploded over the summer, but Martin Dempster caught up with him in the obligatory "Cleaning out the desk" piece.  First, here's our Peter in July:

Q. Does the R&A have a problem or is it compromised in terms of Turnberry's place in The Open rota in terms of Mr. Trump's comments?

PETER DAWSON: Well, it's had a lot of publicity, hasn't it. We don't have any decisions to make about Turnberry for quite some time, and I think we'll just let a bit of time pass and future championship committees will deal with them at the time.

And here's our hero after, you know, a bit of time has passed:

Work is also underway on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry, where Donald Trump would like to be an Open host for the first time soon after its return to Northern Ireland. “To think that we are going to determine where an Open Championship is held because of something somebody said on the political trail in America is absurd,” said Dawson of Trump’s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. We have other priorities, but that’s for a future committee to judge.”

I have no shortage of issues with the man, but isn't this the position we'd like them to take?  Even if you think that Trump's an ass, we have a hard enough time finding interesting venues for our events...

Also there for this availability was John Huggan, who had this:

“The issues we have with clubs and balls have been the most intellectually demanding in

my time at the R&A, both technically and philosophically,” says Dawson. “Everyone thinks that, when they played, that is how golf should be played. You never heard Jack Nicklaus say he really should be playing with Bobby Jones’ clubs. You never heard Bobby Jones saying he should be playing with Old Tom Morris’ equipment. And apart from one or two, the best players today are just as silent. They’re not saying they should play with Jack’s equipment.” 

That silence is, of course, bought and paid for by the equipment companies through the contracts those leading players sign to use their clubs. But please continue.

“It’s a balance between maintaining the skill level required to play the sport and responding to the call of golfers for better equipment,” argues Dawson. “That has been the case since the game began. And it remains the biggest issue in golf. There are those who call for a split in the rules between the elite and the rest. I think that is an awful prospect. We all want to play the same game. There is a huge gap between Roger Federer and the club tennis player, but they both play by the same rules and they both play the same game. Golf is the same. We don’t need to dumb it down.”

So, as I understand the current state of play, on the most intellectually demanding issue of your time, you've done nothing?  Well, not truly nothing, its' actually even worse:

Since 1995, the last St Andrews Open before Dawson’s arrival, golf’s most famous venue has endured more facelifts than Anne Robinson, Barry Manilow and Dolly Parton combined. All have been done because the R&A were asleep at the equipment wheel and now are forced into more and more egregious measures just to keep scores within acceptable levels. 

Tees now exist outside the Old Course boundaries. Long grass grows in places it has no business growing. Many bunkers have been re-shaped to the point where they are almost perfectly round and are now surrounded by rough. New bunkers have also been added in places they simply should not be. A depression on the seventh fairway was filled in because – heaven forbid – the world’s most talented golfers might just have to play from a poor lie. Instead of being mowed to an appropriate speed, the 11th green has been “de-sloped”. And, most offensively, the area around the world famous Road Hole Bunker has been manipulated.

And Huggan ignores the fact that despite the "de-sloping of the 11th green, balls were moving in the last three majors such that play had to be suspended due to "unexpected" wind.  He's still going to miss Peter, though... is that because he fears that Martin Slumbers will live up to his name?

About That Moon - I wrote that opening sentence before this had been posted, but you do all remember that Jimmy Walker moonlights (pun intended) as an astrophotographer, right?  Nice to see that didn't let his poor week month half-season deter him from sharing this with us:

Life Isn't Fair, But Golf Is A Whole 'Nother Thing

So, this was my pitch mark yesterday on our Par-3 seventh:

The astute reader will have intuited the result from the post title, as the ball bounced or spun out and settled some 18" southeast of Nirvana...

The good news is that we can safely conclude that my club selection was spot on, though I did pull the shot a tad.

And this unfortunate result was after my Joe Daly last week...  Don't know that reference?  That unfortunate soul had this short putt on the final hole at Q-School in 2000 to earn his Tour card:

I had a 30" putt for par on our 18th green last Sunday, and intentionally stroked it with a bit of pace to keep it on line.  Like Joe above I was reaching for it when I heard the sickening clank of surlyn on plastic and the ball shot back out of the cup.  The saving grace for me was that the putt had no intrinsic value, though my reaction was about the same as Joe's, minus the lame hat toss.

Friday Funnies

Time is again short, so let's see if we can close some of these browser tabs...

East Lake Update - I gather they're playing some sort of exhibition at Bobby Jones' old haunt, though they seem to have attracted a decent field...What?  Playoffs?  You realize that makes no sense in golf....Oh, never mind...

ATLANTA – The curtain rose Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in the opening round of

the Tour Championship, and Henrik Stenson had a goal. He wanted to break from the gates as fast as he could. A birdie-birdie-birdie start and a front-nine, 6-under 29 certainly checked off that box. 

“That’s what I was looking for,” Stenson said, “and I got it.” 

He was too consumed in the moment to start thinking about shooting golf’s magic number – 59 – at one of the game’s biggest events, but surely others were thinking about it. Some light drizzle hit in the midst of his back nine with Stenson 8 under through 12 on the par-70 track, and his game would cool over the final holes, which included a dropped shot at the par-4 17th. But his overall work for the day was shining: a 7-under 63 that delivered a two-shot cushion over Paul Casey.

Henrik is of course a fine player and has won this thing before, but Volume CCXXII of how ridiculous this FedEx thingee could be that he's currently in fourth place yet hasn't won since...well, since he won the FedEx Cup in 2013.  

But Henrik has a sense of humor and I did like his assessment of his chances of winning from Wednesday:

Well said, Henrik.  Though is that Rory or Bubba you're referring to there?

Ten Million Stories in the Big City - Rory said Wednesday that he's not motivated by the money, and added this yesterday in answer to a query from ESPN's Bob Harig:

Q. Yesterday, you were asked that question about playing for the 10 million dollars, all that, and I'm curious, when you turned pro you were so young, did you ever think about the money then when you were playing? And if so, was it important to get past that to be successful?

RORY MCILROY: No, money's never motivated me. It's never been a motivating factor in my life. My dad and mom together probably earned I don't know, 40, 50 grand a year. Combined. That was sort of our household income.

So it was never really a motivating factor to me because we never had that much to begin with. So, I probably don't -- I mean starting off, I started earning money at 18 years old and earning quite a lot, so I probably don't appreciate the value of money like some other people do. It's just never been that important to me. It's nice, it's nice to have it. It's nice to have that security for your future and for your family's future, I guess. But if I wanted to get into golf for the money, I would be in it for the wrong reasons.

Shack gets all existential about Rory's comment on not, you know, needing the $10 million large on offer this week, and you can decide how often he contradicts himself (the Over/Under is 4):

Now, you could say this is wildly hilarious, full-fledged LOL talk coming from someone who took his former agent to trial over...money, money and more money.

Ok I'll say it: he made me laugh very hard. 

But once the laughter dies, I'm more fascinated by what kind of moment this could be for the pro game if his claims had gained news traction (they haven't). 

Golf's appeal to some, in part, is having athletes who start from scratch every year. They're humble. The game keeps them in touch with some semblance of sanity. While they may have free clubs galore, private jets and courtesy cars, the game still keeps them in line. 

Could having a golfer or golfers regularly suggest that $10 million does not mean much to them change that attractiveness?

I'm not clear on the source of his lack of clarity here, but is there anything surprising in Rory's comment?  There are many who are outraged by the amount of money the top players make, though it seems to me that such outrage typically takes the form of Player X won ten million and didn't win anything....you know, like Henrik the last couple of years.

Also, it's a bit cute to say that he sued his former managers over money.  He found out that the sweetheart deal he received wasn't quite as sweet as hid former BFF's, and while most of us wouldn't have litigated we'd all have been equally pissed off.

The fact that ten mil doesn't move the needle for Rors could outrage any of us, but to what effect?  He still seems to be determined to play as well as possible and to win big tournaments, and isn't that what we hope to see in a young man?

 Me?  I'm more outraged by this:

What has to happen for Harris English, the last man into the field of 29 (Jim Furyk withdrew on Tuesday) at this week's Tour Championship, to win the FedEx Cup? Take a look at the (long) list of scenarios that all need to occur: 

In the words of Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber, "So you're telling me there's a chance. . ." 

Um, actually, no, says statistician Mark Broadie. 

The Columbia Business School professor and author of the book, "Every Shot Counts," crunched the numbers and came up with the chances of winning the $10 million bonus and an extra shiny trophy for each golfer teeing it up at East Lake. According to Broadie, English has a 0.0 percent chance of getting it done even if he wins the Tour Championship.

Excuse me, I was told that these are the playoffs... How can you be in the playoffs and have 0% chance to win?  Someone lied!

And after a Thursday 71, those odds haven't shortened for the English-man.

Sweet Spot, Indeed - PGA Tour Equipment Editor Jonathan Wall posted this pic of an iron Tiger used in 2005:

And here's Stephen Hennessey's summary of his use of said Nike Blades:

It's not news to anybody that Tiger Woods was quite good at golf in 2005. One of the best seasons of all-time. Like ever. 

It started with the Dual at Doral with Phil Mickelson and Tiger at the start of the year. Then Tiger ended the season with two majors (his last Masters and his second British Open) and six total wins.

My only thought is that as good as Tiger was, I'm not sure that the wear pattern on his irons would be substantially different than, say, the guy that finished 60th on the money list.  They all find the sweet spot pretty regularly...

(h/t: Left Bank Maggot)

RIP, Yogi - We lost one of the greats earlier in the week, and Peter Morrice filed a nice tribute from Yogi's home-away-from home:

I remember the buzz in the caddie shack the day Yogi Berra played his first round as a

member of Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, N.J., where I grew up caddieing and playing golf. One of the old-timers was assigned Yogi's bag and was pacing around like a crazy man. Soon they were off with the club pro and a couple of good-playing members. It didn't take long for the new guy to drop his first Yogi-ism. 

As the story goes, Yogi had about a 10-footer on the first green, and the caddie was stalking it from all angles. Now, you have to know here that Yogi was a right-handed golfer who putted lefty -- just the kind of thing you'd expect from a man known for his quirkiness. Anyway, after careful inspection, the caddie informs Yogi the putt will break a few inches left to right. Yogi gives a grateful nod, steps in and sends the ball on its way. But it breaks in the opposite direction. The caddie, aghast with embarrassment, says, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Berra! It went the other way." Yogi shrugs and smiles, "It's not your fault. I should've told you I putt lefty."

For a few years I was regularly invited to Montclair (a very special place) and saw Yogi shuffling around the grounds.   And see if this doesn't sound like our Yogi:

My dad was a longtime Montclair member with a locker one down from Yogi's (my brother's was the one between them), and Yogi even came to my wedding and my brother's. Dad remembers a story about Yogi standing over a shot that had to carry a lake. With his all-too-intense playing partner standing next to him, Yogi admitted, "I might hit it in the water here." To which his partner said, "Yogi, you've got this shot. Be positive!" So Yogi quickly rethought his comment and said, "OK, I'll definitely hit it in the water."

Actually, I just heard a new Yogiism that's all too apt.  His wife Carmen asked him where he wanted to be buried, offering St. Louis (where he grew up), New York or Montclair.   Yogi's Response: "Surprise me."

 RIP.

California Being California - I've previously discussed with you the incoherence of California's water regulations, promoting the very behavior that's now abhorred.  Now comes word that a turf reduction incentive program is being discontinued because....well, because it's the wrong turf.

The nearly $1.9 million payout for El Niguel Country Club, with its lush golf course tucked in a Laguna Niguel valley featuring more than 7,000 yards of terrain, three lakes and a rambling creek, was by far the highest rebate in Orange County. It accounted for more than 10 percent of the rebate money paid out to county homeowners and businesses. 

El Niguel General Manager Eric Troll did not respond to messages seeking comment.

No other business in Orange County collected more than $1 million. The next highest was just over $500,000. The highest residential rebate here was about $32,000.

But they saved the water, so what exactly is the problem?  And wouldn't you love to know who that residential water customer was?  Maybe he's a bad guy as well, after all he probably belongs to a golf club...

Gimmegate Redux -  As feared, this story has been completely misconstrued.  For instance, here's Alex Myers from his weekly The Grind feature:

It's tough to know exactly what was going on in Pettersen's head in the heat of the moment, and it's even tougher to compare a major international team competition to a buddies trip, but we have a guy who is stingy with giving putts, and let's just say it has NOT helped with his popularity among the group.

Repeat after me, Alex, it's NOT about failing to concede a short putt.  The shame for Alex is that he has a cognitive breakthrough later in the piece:

Unfortunately, one incident overshadowed the entire Solheim Cup. Pettersen deserves most of the blame, but she's not alone. If teammate Charley Hull really thought that putt was good (and she CLEARLY did when she walked off the green and sent the wrong signal), she should have spoken up -- even if she risked the wrath of her intimidating partner.

OK, progress is slow but steady....don't you see what an uncomfortable position Pettersen put Hull in?  And yes Pettersen apologized, but are we sure she knows for what?

Submitted for your approval is this Van Cynical Mailbag item, in which our Gary shows his absorption of this all-important life lesson:

Van Shanksalot, Jason Day is the best player in the world right now. But will he concede a 12-inch putt to Jordan Spieth in the Prez Cup?—Klaugh56 via Twitter 

After watching Spieth get a little shaky on the short ones at Conway Farms last week, maybe not. But I guarantee he won’t walk off the green before Spieth putts, as Suzann Pettersen did in the Solheim Cup.

My work is done here. 

FedEx Fever

I'm not sure I have enough time for even an abbreviated post, but I'll give it a 

The end is nigh, and as typically is the case, it's with a whimper.... I know in Commissioner Ratched's mind it's an earth-shattering kaboom, but he really needs to get out more.

On the positive side, there are those that take the world as they find it, such as Jordan Spieth from his Wednesday presser:

Q. There's been a lot of talk about you being part of a new big three of golf, obviously with Rory and with Jason. Maybe Rickie is going to be part of a big four. But, overall, your take on that and what do you think the three of you specifically, you won five of the last six Majors, what do you guys bring to the sport as a whole? 

JORDAN SPIETH: Well I think that the big number, whatever it is, changes, I've seen it change week-to-week out here. 

There was big two, there was big one, there was big two, there was big three, there was big two, there was big four. I mean, Brooks Koepka wins this week, it's the big five. You know, it's what it is.

Hey, the Jordan Spieth era is so last year.  And at least according to Joel Beall, Jason Day wins POY, though in this case it's for Presser of the Year, including:

"It's like Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlory had a baby – and I was it."

Jase, I'm trying to get some breakfast down here...

And these:

On what he'd do with the $10 million FedEx Cup prize: "I might buy a few more v-necks from Target." 

On if that financial reward might affect his play: "Yes of course...It did in 2011 and I choked."

It doesn't suck to be Jason Day... And Joel is not a guy afraid to revisit his assumptions.  A few weeks ago he had these rather intemperate words about East Lake:

Q: Hey, those are some nice courses! I'm guessing the same applies to the Tour Championship, right? 

A: About that... 

Q: What's wrong? 

A: Well, not that there's anything wrong, per se, about East Lake Golf Club, site of the Tour Championship. It's a Donald Ross design and was a former home to Bobby Jones. Unfortunately, it lacks the pizzazz you'd want out of a season-ending venue. Put it this way: East Lake is like a ham-and-cheese sandwich. Perfectly suitable, gets the job done...but you're not bragging, or necessarily even happy, about having one. 

Q: Huh. Have you ever played there?

A: Nope. And after that description, I'm guessing I never will.

Joel comes away more favorably disposed to the track, though still with some qualifications.  The most surprising part is that this, which looks remarkably similar to the epic grilled cheese I had at Glen Arbor yesterday, is not the basis for his revised opinion:

And did I mention the Glen Arbor french fries?  I'll try to get to that later...

And what would a Tour Championship be without a State of the Fortress Ponte Vedra presser from the Commish?  If, like your humble correspondent, you're thinking that fresh blood is warranted, you'll draw the obvious conclusions from this:

“That decision isn’t really too hinged on the general flow of how we are doing,” Finchem said. “We have two or three projects here on the horizon and it’s more of a question of how far into those projects I want to stick with it?” 

The policy board would have to approve any extension to Finchem’s contract and that group only has one meeting remaining this year. 

“We’ll work through it the first half of next year,” Finchem said.

For those that don't speak Vulcan, that roughly translates as..."I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too."

But couldn't one of those alleged journalists follow up with an inquiry as to what those projects might be?  Shack did some first class Fisking of the Commish, so let's plagiarize link to his good work:

“I think this is, in many ways, our strongest year,” he said. “It really is interesting when you look at the players who are here this week and their ages and what’s happened.”

Beyond the players, Finchem expressed a bullishness for having more than 60 percent of sponsors signed on for five years or more, that “PGA Tour Live” has been launched and for the continued health of the FedEx Cup playoffs. “I’ve never been more excited for the future,” Finchem said. 

And we can just feel it oozing through the screen!

Geoff, are you immune to the man's vast chirisma?

And this:

Finchem said television ratings illustrated the impact of the rise of the new wave.

"Our broadcast numbers are up over 20 percent over the previous year, which is a stunning increase and has to do with the number of playoffs, the attractiveness of the players who are competing and winning," said Finchem.

"And all that adds up to us being very bullish as we look forward to the next four or five years."

While it's nice to see an uptick, these merely restored 2012 levels.

Geoff, you're such a cynic.... can'y you learn from the consistently sunny optimism we maintain here at Unplayable Lies? 

Tuesday Thoughts

I'm on the clock so I do hope that this doesn't seem as though I'm just mailing it in...

GimmeGate, Day 2 - Those titanium-reinforced positions are starting to soften, and I've reached to point of comfort with the fact that Suzann Pettersen is being allowed to live and consume scarce oxygen.  But it did take me 24 hours to get here...

All joking aside, well perhaps not all, the story is inevitably moving in exactly the wrong direction.  It is not nor should it be about whether or not a given putt is conceded.  It is about the abject rudeness of Ms. Pettersen and Charley Hull in storming off the green while their opponents had not yet holed out, a practice that the former continued in her singles match.  And secondly, their apparent belief that the concession of putts is only to be done in committee, presumably after a motion to open thje proceeding has been made and seconded.  

I shared Pettersen's apology with you yesterday and to her credit it was better than the far more typical non-apology apology...you know that kind, the "I'm sorry if my oh so reasonable statement was misinterpreted."   It would have been far better had she seen the light on Sunday and didn't need the Twitter mob to push her in this direction, and I was far from amused to see her pulling the same nonsense on Angela Stanford in her singles match as noted above.

Shack had an interesting conversation on the subject with Gary Williams in his Morning Drive

appearance, making the fair but off-topic point about the prevalence of begging for concessions.  I do agree that that's become a bit much, but in broken record mode, what was Allison supposed to think as she saw Charley Hull marching to the 18th tee?  That she wanted to "See the putt made?"  Most people that want to "See" something don't voluntarily move to a worse seat... And again, Ms. Pettersen is conspicuous in her absence...

Mike Stachura, who is most often seen on the equipment beat, takes a stab at the issue and has some fun with it:

The conceded putt is a mystery to me. And I am more certain of this uncertainty after Sunday’s display of gamesmanship/poor sportsmanship by Suzann Pettersen at the Solheim Cup. What Pettersen did seemed on one hand so obviously wrong, so incongruent with golf’s very essence that the outrage might have been less if she flipped the bird at Juli Inkster or made the Gangsta Rap throat-slash gesture at Brittany Lincicome. (Privately, there are some who suggest golf could use some of this, that the game needs less garden party and more Fight Club. But I digress.)

Yes you do, but at least amusingly so.  And he continues to digress:

On the one hand, I wonder if it is some vestigial tail reminder of our baser instincts, all vaguely couched in condescension or disgust. The thought bubble that surrounds every concession goes something like this: “Yeah, I’m giving this to you, but we both know that I don’t really think you’re good enough to make it if it really mattered. Moreover, I’m giving it to you because I’m better or holier or somehow more virtuous than you or any of your kind will ever be. And I need to remind you of that very fact at this very instant.”

That's why my typical rejoinder to a conceded putt is to remind my opponent that "I don't need your pity."  But while we all know and expect the circle of friendship to tighten in the latter stages of a match, this one is new to me:

Golf Digest’s instruction editor Peter Morrice reminded me that noted sports psychologist Dr. Richard Coop once suggested that early in a match, give the putt to your opponent when she leaves it short and make her putt it when she rolls it past. Subconsciously, she’ll think if it’s left short, she’ll be granted the next putt. Late in a tight match, she'll never reach the hole. Coop’s tactic seems at once as ingenious and laudable as it is a kind of cartoonish Simon Bar Sinister scurvy trick. How can conceding a putt be wrong and right at the same time?

Gotta store that one away for future use...and of course there's an appeal to the better angels of our nature, which I'm guessing is my first Lincoln reference ever in these pages:

Adler: “I've definitely played with golfers who give putts when it feels like the hole deserves to be halved; as in both players reached the green with the same quality of shots and it doesn't seem right that just because one lagged to one foot and the other to 30 inches that anyone should win.” 

Carney: "I have come to think that gentility is a virtue and what the sport is about. Sounds corny, but expecting or hoping to win based on someone else's misplay is less satisfying and also engenders weakness in oneself. Err on the side of the gimme. Gimme when you'd want someone to do the same for you.”

Err on the side of the gimme, Suzann...though that's not necessarily a unanimous opinion, as Mike informs:

Of course, the most notable example of that kind of gentility writ large in golf’s history is Jack Nicklaus’s gesture at the 1969 Ryder Cup (pictured above). Nicklaus conceded a putt of relatively inconsequential length to Tony Jacklin to end the 1969 matches in a draw. It was noble and ultimately immaterial in that the tied matches meant the U.S. retained the Cup, but it spoke volumes about Nicklaus’ class. 

Or did it? Many still argue whether Nicklaus should have done it, and U.S. captain Sam Snead disagreed with it ‘til the day he died. It makes you wonder whether there ever is a right time to not concede a putt. The Pettersen incident turns the whole idea of conceding a putt on its head, leaving us further confused.

Not so much, Mike, because it's not about whether or not Allison's putt was conceded.  I like Jack's gesture because the Ryder Cup was at that point a lopsided exhibition, but I also understand that Captain Snead didn't want to be the first to lose it.  

Shack helpfully reminds us of this wonderful, previously-linked item on the history of the concession, which arose as a reaction to the stymie.  

The phrase itself, “concede putts,” was first mentioned in the Rules of Golf in 1909. Interestingly, the USGA was strongly against it. The section Special Rules for Match Play Competitions reads, “The Rules of Golf Committee recommends that players should not concede putts to their opponents.” This was mentioned in each subsequent Rules book until 1933. 

At one point, conceding a putt was used as a way to play around the “stymie rule,” which was in existence until 1952. On September 1, 1920, the USGA added a provision that allowed the stymied player to concede his opponent’s next putt...

The Nicklaus-Jacklin putt above is golf's most famous concession, but can anyone tell me the most consequential putt in golf history that was not conceded?  Anyone?  Bueller?

I can find no reference to it online, so I'll need to operate from memory.  In 1913 in the finals of Massachusetts Amateur a golfer was about to concede the winning putt to his opponent.  Remembering advice to the extent that you never concede the winning putt he refrained, and the very short putt was missed.  The lucky winner that day was Francis Ouimet, the win got him into the U.S. Amateur at Garden City and resulted in the USGA inviting him to play in that year's U.S. Open across the street from his modest home, and the rest is history.

So Suzann, you're on your own in deciding what to conceded.  Just stick around until your opponents hole out, OK?

Ink-Stained Wretches - Not a fan of tats...never will be.  Just don't know why you'd do something so painful and permanent....but this Twitter compilation of golf-themed tattoos is just freaky.

Ummmm, wouldn't a logo'd golf shirt be a better call?

This is apparently a tribute to Dr. Mackenzie:

Ummmm...has anyone told him that the good Dr. is, you know, deceased....This was Shack's fave, the coordinates for Muirfield Village Golf Club:

Your Laugh of the Day - I gotta run but I'll leave you with a smile on your face.  In response to that bit about the Presidents Cup captaincy, the Tour Confidential gang was asked what the worst job in golf is, and this was the best response:

PASSOV: How about being Haas's assistant captain? I think back to the 1997 Ryder Cup, when Miguel Angel Jimenez served as non-playing assistant captain to Seve Ballesteros at Valderrama. One of his tasks was to carry and distribute bananas to European team members. On another occasion, Seve summoned him to a 4:30 a.m. pairings meeting. After several mostly mute minutes, Seve said, "Now you can go to bed again. I have done the pairings."

Who doesn't miss Seve? 

Weekend Wrap - Schadenfreude Edition

Wow, I didn't see THAT coming, but who did?

Rockin' Freakin' Dogs - As difficult as it will be, let's try to cover the game story before we dive in on the juicy bit:

ST. LEON-ROT, Germany (AP) -- After being infuriated by a call they found

unsportsmanlike, the Americans staged the biggest comeback in Solheim Cup history Saturday to wrest the trophy back from Europe. 

Paula Creamer defeated Germany's Sandra Gal to complete the turnaround and secure a 14 1/2-13 1/2 victory for the United States, which had trailed by four points going into the singles.

Europe led 10-6 going into the 12 singles but could only win three and draw another. Home golfer Caroline Masson missed the last big chance to retain the cup for Europe, before Gerina Piller made her more difficult 9-foot putt to win her match by one hole and keep American hopes alive. 

Cristie Kerr then had nine birdies in 11 holes as she beat Hull 3 and 2, and Angela Stanford ended her nine-match losing streak to beat Pettersen 2 and 1, before Creamer completed the turnaround.

That 10-6 margin before singles exactly matches the two epic Ryder Cup comeback's, Ben's Boys in the Regrettable Golf Shirts in 1999 and the 2014 Poultergeist.   

Since that 1999 comeback the conventional wisdom has been that the team behind needs to load the early part of their singles lineup to create the "Sea of red" on the scoreboard.  Juli Inkster seems to have not been copied on that memo, however, as her lineup seemed far more balanced.  And even though I had overheard an inadvertent remark leading me to believe that they had come back, watching it later on tape it was hard to see as the Euros won two and halved one of the first three matches.

While Creamer is being credited with winning the final point, the two matches that determined the outcome had to be Kerr-Hull and Piller-Masson.  Given the 3&2 margin of victory it would be easy to forget that Kerr was 3-down in the early going.  Piller had several leads and kept coughing them up, missing a gaggle of short putts.  But given one last opportunity, she gutted the putt that won the cup.

Shall we get to the good stuff?  In case you've been in a bubble, the Saturday fourball matches had to be completed at zero-dark-thirty Sunday morning, and...well....it got ugly.  Here's Sam Weinman's recap:

The U.S.'s Alison Lee and Brittany Lincicome were in a tight fourball match against Europe's Charley Hull and Suzann Pettersen, which the Europeans had just squared with a birdie on the 16th hole. Lee had an opportunity to give the U.S. back the lead with a birdie putt on 17, but her putt slid inches past the hole. 

But this is where things got weird. After the putt missed, Hull began walking off the green, followed by Pettersen and the rest of the members of the group: caddies, rules officials, and scorers. This, along with length of the putt, and the fact that the walking umpire started announcing the score, led Hull (and plenty of others) to believe the next putt was good, so she scooped up her ball.

I beg to differ with Sam, as Suzann was long gone.  Here's a screen shot as the putt slides by and the tall Norwegian is nowhere to be found:

And note that Charley Hull is walking towards the 18th tee....and, well, hold that thought.  Back to Sam:

But Pettersen claimed that the putt was never given to Lee, and since Lee picked up her ball prematurely, the hole was awarded to Europe, giving them a one-up lead. The Europeans went on to win the match, and took a four-point lead into Sunday afternoon's singles.

From there, emotions ran hot. Pettersen, when approached by European captain Carin Koch, defended her actions by saying the putt was a good three feet, which it wasn't. Hull, presumably in disagreement with her partner, broke into tears, as did Lee, whose innocent mistake cost her team a valuable point.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Euros doubled down, with this via Sky Sports:

When asked if she would do the same thing again in the future, Pettersen, who was playing in her eighth Solheim Cup, said: "Totally, we are all trying to win.

"It was very clear from Charley and me that we wanted to see the putt (holed).

"I've never been more quiet in my life after seeing her first putt. We didn't say a word and unfortunately she picked up."

That never been more quiet is really quite rich, as her location closer to the 18th tee than the 17th green made any decibel reading rather moot...It is quite rude to leave the green prematurely, especially so for a member of the home team that could lead to the crowd moving en masse to the next hole.

Hull had this to say:

"I was walking over to Suzann to discuss whether or not to give the putt and then I turned around and Alison picked up," said Hull. 

"A few people are saying I was walking off the green. If they watch again, I was talking to Suzann."

Sorry Charley, no sale!  How long were you planning to leave Allison hanging before your conference call with Suzann (and given Suzann's location, a call was required) reached a conclusion?  And what, pray tell, were you crying about if you handled yourself so well?

 Back to Suzann:

“We are all trying to win, to play golf,” Pettersen said. “I totally respect the Americans. We totally respect the game. At that point of time in the match, with the putt she had left, I would still like to see it. If she had the putt to win the cup, I would still like to see it.”

Let me be clear....Suzann and Charley have every right to see every putt they want, even those hanging over the cup.  They just don't have the right to "see" them from the next tee.  Look at Hull in that photo above... if she wants to "see" the putt she should stay where she is.  When she moves towards the next tee she's signalling that the hole is over....

As for the match referee, here's the impossible position in which he found himself:

Rule 2-4/3 explains why Pettersen should have told Lee to replace her ball and hole out. It appears as a hypothetical question and answer and reads: 

Q: In a match between A and B, B made a statement which B interpreted to mean that A’s next stroke is conceded. Accordingly, A lifted her ball, B then said that she had not conceded A’s next stroke. What is the ruling?

A: If B’s statement could reasonably have led A to think his next stroke had been conceded, A should replace her ball as near as possible to where it lay, without penalty.

I agree that Petterson should have told Allison to replace the ball, but she should have done that because of what a rude a******e she was.  The referee was constrained in doing so by the specificity of the decision that relates to a "statement."  I would argue that once Hull started walking to the next tee that should be construed as a statement, but that's really an argument to amend the decision, appropriate since so much of conceding putts is done with hand gestures.

But this story ultimately affirms the existence of a higher power.  First, with photos like this:

And then with this statement this morning from Pettersen, which can only be considered complete capitulation: 

'I've never felt more gutted and truly sad about what went down Sunday on the 17th at the Solheim Cup,' said Pettersen. 

'I am so sorry for not thinking about the bigger picture in the heat of the battle and competition. I was trying my hardest for my team and put the single match and the point that could be earned ahead of sportsmanship and the game of golf itself! I feel like I let my team down and I am sorry. 

'To the US team, you guys have a great leader in Juli , who I've always looked up to and respect so much. Knowing I need to make things "right," I had a face to face chat with her before leaving Germany this morning to tell her in person how I really feel about all of this. I wanted her also to know that I am sorry. 

'I hope in time the US team will forgive me and know that I have learned a valuable lesson about what is truly important in this great game of golf which has given me so much in my life.

'To the fans of golf who watched the competition on TV, I am sorry for the way I carried myself. I can be so much better and being an ambassador for this great game means a lot to me.

'The Solheim Cup has been a huge part of my career. I wish I could change Sunday for many reasons. Unfortunately I can't.

'This week I want to push forward toward another opportunity to earn the Solheim Cup back for Europe in the right way. And I want to work hard to earn back your belief in me as someone who plays hard, plays fair and plays the great game of golf the right way.'

Yeah, you work on that Suzann, and in the meantime, Eff you!   I can only hope those stares in the locker room are especially icy... With that statement she really left Charley Hull out to dry... when your captain and the greatest player ever plead with you to relent, you might think it through in the moment, because I'm not big on Monday morning apologies.

Kudos also to Laura Davies and Juli Inkster.  The former, a friend of Pettersen, was immediately on Twitter with a clear understanding of what had transpired, and had this in the Sky Sports:

'Disgusted. We have got our best player, Charley Hull, who has just won a point and she is in floods of tears. That tells you the wrong thing was done. 

"How Suzann can justify that I will never, ever know. We are all fierce competitors but ultimately it's unfair," Davies said. "We have to play week in, week out together and you do not do something like that to a fellow pro."

And Juli was quite cryptic on this incident, but I loved her comment on an earlier contretemps over Annika giving advice (only the actual captains are allowed to do so).  Juli, trying to keep things private despite the obvious emotions involved, indicated that they had invited the Euro to Thanksgiving and were understandably upset when they declined.   So that would be "Winner Winner, Turkey Dinner."

I thought Juli handled herself well all week, most notably when it appeared that her girls were going to lose...which was, after all, most of the week.

The Jason Day Era, Resumed - I saw none of it, but here's the headline:

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Jason Day is currently the best player on the planet. 

Is he the best player of the 2014-15 season? 

Following his latest masterpiece, a six-shot romp he capped Sunday at Conway Farms Golf Club to win the BMW Championship, Day improved his case for the PGA Tour player of the year award that was once considered to be a lock for Jordan Spieth. Spieth won the year’s first two majors, made a gallant run at history in coming up one shot short in the British Open and has two other wins.

OK, he's certainly the hottest player on the planet. but best player is TBD, and therein lies the fun.  The season is essentially over, and next week's 30-player exhibition adds little to the argument.  But how much fun will next year be?

As for Player of the Year, who cares... It's marginally interesting to weight this year's records of the two leading contenders, but it's a nothing burger because it's a vote of PGA Tour members for Tour Player of the Year.  If you value the majors as the defining measure of greatness you have to vote for Spieth, as per this guy:

“I still think it’s him,” said Day, who has won four of his last six starts, of Spieth. “I’m hoping to win next week and get people talking about it more. It might change some people’s minds a bit if I go out and win next week.”

 You wouldn't expect me to disagree with the No. 1 ranked player in the world, would you?

A Lot Of Effort To Avoid The Frys - This came out of the blue:

Tiger Woods, a 14-time major champion and winner of more than 100 events worldwide, announced Friday that he has undergone a second successful microdiscectomy surgery on his back. The first was done March 31, 2014. 

The surgery was performed late Wednesday in Park City, Utah, by neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Rich. Dr. Rich also performed the initial operation.

"Tiger Woods underwent a microdiscectomy late on Sept. 16 at Park City Medical Center," Dr. Rich said. "With the upcoming offseason, the decision was made to remove a small disc fragment that was pinching his nerve. The microsurgery was a complete success, and he was discharged Thursday night." 

"This is certainly disappointing, but I'm a fighter," Woods said. "I've been told I can make a full recovery, and I have no doubt that I will."

Most curious since he had only just committed to the Frys  (because he had to) and a partner event with the Kooch.  

And don't you love that "Second successful surgery" bit?  Because nothing screams success like a mulligan shortly thereafter....  Gary Van Sickle gets to the crux of the matter:

This setback costs Tiger time, a valuable commodity that was once almost limitless for him and now is dwindling with alarming rapidity. If 2016 turns into a lost year or even a lost half-year, that’s another big blow to Tiger’s comeback hopes. He hasn’t won a PGA Tournament in more than two years. He hasn’t won a major championship in seven years. Time is getting shorter, and the odds are getting longer.

And for those with time on their hands, Golf Channel helpfully provides this comprehensive history of Tiger boo-boos, though they could have gone back further (his first knee surgery was as a Stanford Cardinal).  And this image packs a punch:

I'm not prepared to say he's done, but it's hard to see how he competes at the highest level when his body keeps breaking down.