Weekend, Wrapped

Well that was entertaining, unless of course you're a Rory fan...

Nightmare Scenarios, Avoided - Doug Ferguson captures the Yin and the Yang of Bubba's week among the glitterati:

Bubba Watson packed plenty of memories from his week in LA. He has a kidney stone

as a keepsake. He had a cameo in "Girl Meets World." He received a text Sunday morning from Steph Curry offering shooting tips to Watson's son. And he capped it all with the best memento of all. 

"Hold on a second, my trophy is coming," Watson said, interrupting his press conference as the shiny prize was placed on the table next to him. 

It wasn't clear if passing the kidney stone or winning the Northern Trust Open was more difficult.

Well, he did spend Saturday night at the Warriors-Clippers game, but no mention of Justin Bieber giving Caleb drumming lessons?   

And Doug also caught this moment, which I enjoyed from the comfort of my couch:

All week long, Watson spoke of the importance of making putts at Riviera, and he needed all of them — the 10-footer for par on No. 10 to stay in the game, and a pair of birdies to twice tie for the lead, from 30 feet on No. 11 and from 5 feet on the par-3 16th. 

And then he took the lead with a birdie that was pure Bubba. 

Both feet came off the ground as he hammered a drive 334 yards on the 582-yard 17th hole, and then he hit 2-iron to the back of the green that led to a two-putt birdie. He closed with a 3-under 68 for a one-shot victory over Kokrak and Scott.

That swing was the essence of our Bubba, though I wish CBS would have shown it from the blimp, since he seemed in low Earth orbit when he made contact.

And proving that he's not just a pretty face, Shack caught this great photo of our here:

That's a pretty great photo, though there's a mandatory deduction for his feet maintaining contact with the ground.

The Tour Confidentialistas kick around whether Bubba gets due credit for his accomplishments...here's a sample:

Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated (@AlanShipnuck): Not even close. His record is tremendous but often overshadowed by his personality quirks. Hopefully he'll just shut up and play so the golf world can better appreciate his unusual genius.

Mark Godich, senior editor, Sports Illustrated (@MarkGodich): Sadly, the possibility that he just shut up and play golf has come and gone. How many times have we been down this road. Regardless, it's a treat to watch him think his way around the golf course, especially on a track like Riviera.

Cameron Morfit, senior writer, GOLF Magazine (@CameronMorfit): I never expected Bubba to be doing what he's doing. He didn't win in college, didn't win on the Web.com, and is one of the more temperamental talents I've ever seen. I thought his psyche was far too delicate to hold up under late-Sunday pressure. And yet here he is, having turned into a prolific winner on the PGA Tour. Say what you want about Bubba the person, but you've got to respect his ability to close.

You might not remember, but in that poll of his peers last year of most overrated players, Bubba finished right behind Rickie and Poults.  The guys got two ugly green jackets in his closet and he's an underachiever?  I don't think so...

But while there's room for improvement in his spoken thoughts, I most certainly don't want him to stop sharing with us.  I love that he was critical of TPC Scottsdale, though of course I wish he could have explained his thoughts a little more clearly.  And it's not just because in this case I agree with him... but these are the conversations we should be having, and Bubba sees the world differently than the rest of us.

Adam Schupak covers the up and down day of Adam Scott:

Scott, 35, stormed out of the gate holing a 35-foot eagle putt at the first, a 16-foot par

putt at the second, a 32-foot birdie putt at the third, and a 20-foot birdie putt at the fourth. So much for all the concern that he would struggle without an anchored putter. Scott birdied five of the first six holes to erase a two-stroke deficit and assume a 2-stroke lead at 15 under. 

“Everything went to plan,” Scott said. “Walking off the 7th hole, I thought, this is feeling pretty good.” 

That’s when Scott made what he called “an error in judgment.” The 11-time Tour winner drove into the barranca that splits the eighth fairway and from the native grass his approach sailed over the green. Scott tried to take his medicine and accept bogey, but a 3-putt from 35 feet cost him two strokes to par and dropped him from the lead.

He made over 100-feet of putts on the first four holes, and you're gonna look good when that happens...I'm not suggesting he give up the game, but he'll need to show me that that stroke will hold up down the stretch a few more times.  Remember, it's not like he was even a Tour average putter with the broomstick....

Think I'm harshing the mellow?  Here's his stat line from the week:

I know the font is small for all you alter kockers, but he gave up three-quarters of a stroke to the field each day on the greens.  And finished second, so the man can still golf his ball...

And what to make of that McIlroy kid?  Jason Sobel takes a shot at explaining the inexplicable:

LOS ANGELES -- When Rory McIlroy opened with an eagle to grab a share of the lead during Sunday's final round of the Northern Trust Open, it felt like he was going to make a serious run at a 12th career PGA Tour title. 

Seventeen holes later, he was trudging off Riviera Country Club's final hole after a sloppy 4-over 75 and share of 20th place. 

"There are encouraging signs," McIlroy said. "But I turned a chance to win into a top-20 at the end of the day, so it wasn't too good." 

McIlroy bookended that opening eagle with a birdie on the last hole, but in between he failed to post any other red numbers, instead carding seven bogeys -- tied for the most he's ever had in a non-major round. 

When asked which part of his game he was most disappointed with, McIlroy pointed to his putter.

Ya think?  Rory's stat line is even worse than Adam's:

 That's a full shot given to the field on the greens, and really his whole game tanked yesterday as the course firmed up.  I don't want to say that I told you so.... actually I do.

Rory is going to play a ton of golf between now and The Masters, though I would think he'd see the need to spend some quality time with Dave Stockton.  He wasn't just missing too many four-footers, he was missing them badly.  

Based up Thomas Pieters, shouldn't the Ponte Vedra mafia be giving Rors a trim in that headshot?  Maybe even Adam as well...

Did you see RyMo's ace?  A good bounce out of the Kikuyu:

And just a quick word of praise for K.J....  He's one of Employee No. 2's faves (I don't ask questions), so it was a pity that she wasn't here to see him laying so well.  But how many hybrids did he hit?  And on shots of around 200 yards....  Really, it was like watching the Senior Club Championship, but the guy finished T5 in a Tour event.  Good stuff....

As for the telecast, Shack captures his thoughts Sunday morning:

Enjoy the Golf Channel telecast from 10 am to 11:30, followed by the half hour re-entry from outer space circa 1967, followed by CBS showing some college basketball and eventually, the noon(ish) telecast that will mark the last time this 90-year-old tournament is called the Northern Trust Open!

Wassup with that?  Which is more annoying, that half-hour between coverage (anyone know the why of it?) or the NCAA hoops games that always go long.  No biggie yesterday, but when they go into OT it's quite the annoyance.

Off to Florida, where it's lions and tigers and snakes and bears and way too much water.

Lydia, Denied - AP's game story from Down Under:

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) Honolulu-based Haru Nomura of Japan won her first LPGA tournament in her 72nd start, shooting a closing 7-under 65 on Sunday to win the Women's Australian Open by three strokes.

Nomura, who was tied for the lead with two others going into the final round at The Grange's West course, finished with a 16-under total of 272.

Top-ranked and defending champion Lydia Ko, who trailed by a stroke after three rounds, finished second after a 67.

Here's my take away from that scene in the photo above, though I'm slightly discomfited by being in agreement with Charlie Rymer, who gave Lydia a Monday Morning Drive Game Ball for her enthusiastic participation in dousing the first-time winner.  Maybe it really is different out there...

Peter Burkowski and Joel Beall respond to Stacy's (and Kenny's) plaintive cry for help, and the results aren't always pretty.  Here's Peter:

Why do female professional golfers make pennies on the dollar compared to their male

counterparts, and not the usual, if still troubling, $.78 on the dollar that women earn across other professions?

Fair question but it’s also the wrong question.

We can agree it's the wrong question because the $.78 on the dollar stat has been soundly and repeatedly debunked, relating more to lifestyle decisions than, as Hillary would have us believe, systemic misogyny.

But Peter descends further into the abyss:

The bigger, better question to ask: Why is there less interest in the women’s game? And better yet, how do we change that?

Female athletes are widely perceived to be inferior: less athletic, less skilled, less entertaining. That perception—the very definition of gender discrimination and inequality—is regularly stated as fact, in the media, on social media and beyond: Women’s athletics are simply less “watchable.” 

The critics don't even go out of their way to veil the gender bias.

 Peter, would you care to take this outside?

What a hot mess of nonsense... let's set aside the issues of entertaining and watchable, which are in the eye of the beholder.  But as for less athletic and less skilled, deal with it.  Because they are, and if you try to argue the contrary you seem a fool.

So here's his attempt to obscure the obvious:

“We’re probably actually hitting more fairways than the guys and more greens than the guys,” Lewis said. “There are certain parts of the game that we actually do better.”

Check the stats. Lewis has hit 97 of 112 fairways this year. That’s a staggering 87% success rate, which doesn’t even place her among the top five players in that category on the LPGA tour. On the men’s side, Thomas Aiken leads the category. His hit rate: 77.26%. 

On the LPGA tour, five players have a greens-in-regulation percentage north of 80%, led by Ha Na Jang, who hits 86% of her greens—eight-six percent! On the PGA Tour this season, not a single player has a GIR rate of better than 80%.

Peter, you ignorant slut.  You're aware that they play different golf courses, aren't you?  And, while I wanted to make this point in reaction to Stacy's original whine, is there a less important stat than fairways hit?  Here's Joel's reality check on this subject:

Unfortunately, Lewis forgets to add context. The PGA Tour layouts reward distance and aggressiveness. It's not that accuracy is unimportant; merely, there's mounting evidence showing it's better to be long than straight. Additionally, in terms of set-up, PGA Tour courses are a tad tougher in difficulty, explaining the statistical variance. 

In short, while men and women are playing the same sport, they're playing different games.

Skip Peter's nonsense but Joel's is worth a read if it's a subject of interest.  I'm a big fan and supporter of the women's games, but arguments that assert that the women are just as good leave me cold.

By the way, Stacy made some good points in her original comments, including this:

“Fans get closer to us than they do to the guys. They really get to know us. Once you get someone to a tournament, you have a fan for life.”

There are many charms and enjoyments to watching the gals, but sports are the ultimate meritocracy.  You have to earn viewers, and complaining about their sexism isn't, you know, helpful.