Weekend Wrap

Golf Tournaments don't always peak when they're supposed to, witness yesterday's predictably anti-climactic final round at The Players.  Was there a moment when the outcome was in doubt?  

So let's dispense with the game story and other formalities before we get the the areas of greater interest.  Alan Shipnuck takes us down memory lane in his lede:

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. –They sure don't make eras like they used to. Golf

belonged to Rory McIlroy from July 2014-April 2015. The Jordan Spieth Era lasted all of three months, from the '15 Masters until the 71st hole of that year's British Open. And now we are living in Jason Day's world; everyone else is just trespassing. 

Day's victory at this Players is the seventh victory since last August for the world number one—on Sunday Adam Scott trotted up the most hypbolic of compliments: "Tigeresqure." Day's ongoing run includes dusting Spieth head-to-head at the PGA Championship; after bettering his would-be rival by 14 strokes over the first two rounds at TPC Sawgrass, Day now has a time-share in Spieth’s head. Those opening bogey-free rounds of 63-66 gave Day the 36-hole scoring record at the Players. PGA Tour brass overreacted with an over-the-top setup on Saturday, and Day never really regained his rhythm.

My God, I haven't thought about the Jordan Spieth Era since January.... I do think that sometimes the greats impress most in winning without their best stuff, and that certainly was the case yesterday.  Though he was also quite fortunate that nobody from the chase pack did much early in the day, which allowed him to survive his scratchy outbound nine.

But you can guess what comes next, the obligatory post-mortems for that which Shipnuck amusingly calls the Neo-Big Three.  First, that Van Cynical guy:

That said, I’m this close to throwing dirt on the Big Three concept invented by the media last year after The Players. 

You heard it here first: The Big Three may be dead. Now it looks more like a Big One—Day, your Players champ and three-time winner this year—and a Medium-Large Two—Jordan Spieth, he of the Augusta Hangover, and Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland’s champion footballer.

Does he have that right that The Big Three was coined after last year's Players won by....err...Rickie Fowler?  And when was Rory's kickabout?

 Randall Mell makes the case for Day's versatility:

He seemed to win on two different courses, with changing conditions making the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course such an extremely different test on the weekend. His ability to navigate the diverse tests is a testament to the growing versatility of his game. He is honing more tools than Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. He has a power game Spieth can’t match, and he’s continuing to refine a dependable short game that McIlroy can’t yet consistently match.

Thing is, power always shows up.  I compare what we saw this week from Day to Tiger circa 2006, when he won at Hoylake and Southern Hills.  When your power allows you to hit 2-iron off the tee, that's a huge advantage.  And in the Aussie's case, it's not because he needs GPS to find a fairway...

And back to Shipnuck:

Rory can't putt, his 100-yard game is a mess, he seems to battle a stretch of ennui at

every tournament. Spieth is fighting his swing, he's had a chance to win the last three majors and failed pretty spectacularly at two of them. Meanwhile, Day has no weaknesses in his game and is playing with a ton of confidence. I can see him putting the hammer down and really separating himself. In fact, he's already done it.

Day playing well is no surprise... The struggles of Spieth and McIlroy are, but perhaps shouldn't be.  Rory has always had the long, loose swing, and the inconsistent results that flow therefrom...  As for Jordan, he had this money quote:

"I'm beating myself up a little bit too much on the golf course, and it's affecting me," Spieth said after a 71. "And I realize that now." 

The culprit at the TPC Sawgrass was his putter, which typically is the most reliable club in his bag. Spieth said he worked hard on his swing when he got back to work after the Masters, and he neglected his short game.

Jordan there's simply no need to beat yourself up, that's what I'm here for... But you know who else he's beating up?  Yup, Michael Greller... Did you catch that exchange on Friday?  He plays a short iron into the sixth green that comes up woefully short, and is caught saying this on an open mic:

The double major winner rounded on his bag man when his iron approach to the sixth green came up well short in the second round of the Players Championship. 

‘Dude, what on earth were you thinking?’ raged Spieth. ‘That was not even close to being the right club.’.

Bless Dan Hicks who, without missing a beat, says something along the lines of, "I thought it was all about "We".  Trouble in paradise?  Stay tuned... Going back to the Tour Confidential panel from prior to the Players, Alan Shipnuck had this about Jordan:

Shipnuck: It's clear that Spieth is going to be more like Phil than Tiger Woods. He's not a ruthlessly efficient closer. There's an element where Jordan can get squirrelly, like when he doubled the 71st hole last year at Chambers Bay. He's going to have some wonderful wins and some spectacular flameouts. That just makes him more interesting.

Translating for non-Millennials, more Arnie than Jack....  But that got me thinking about those four names, or those seven names including the neo-Big Three.   They're all big boppers of the ball, except Jordan, and I think we should expect him to be more inconsistent simply because he has less amrgin for error.

There was much of interest in the panel, including these about the artists formerly known as The Big Three::

Shipnuck: Rory could be the beginning of a new trend where golf is more like tennis, with guys peaking younger and burning out faster. You need to win your majors in your 20s because the idea of winning them in your late 30s is suddenly old-fashioned. Junior and college golf is more intense, the international schedule takes a toll, and there's the 24/7 social-media scrutiny.

Shipnuck: It could be. Historically, many of the greats won their majors in a six-to eight-year window. That window may now open earlier and close faster. And Spieth has been doing this since he was 13, so his clock started ticking much earlier too.

I don't necessarily believe that has to be true for every player, but I do think Alan is on the mark for many.  In the good old days necessity drove longevity for many, or in the case of Vijay it was a burning grudge.  Jack showed a great path for some by balancing his home life extraordinary well, but he admittedly did so in a more forgiving media environment.

Now, about that Saturday at TPC Sawgrass....  Do you enjoy trainwrecks, because we've got you covered....First of all, let's try to explain what happened.  Mark Russell is the Tour's man on the ground and here's his explanation:

“We have done the same thing all week. We have been double cutting these greens and double rolling them and trying to get them firmed up,” said Mark Russell, the Tour’s vice president of rules and competition. “What happened today was just kind of a perfect storm with the weather. We weren't expecting a 20 mph wind all day, and the humidity 30 percent, not a cloud in the sky. And they just, you know, sped up on us.” 

But then that doesn’t explain a three-putt percentage of historic proportions? 

The Tour average for three-putts in a round is 2.93 percent, and on Thursday and Friday the field hovered around the norm with a 2.08 and 2.67 percent average, respectively. On Saturday that number skyrocketed to 11 percent.

The winner had a 4-putt and Sergio had that memorable six-jack on No. 6.  To his credit, there was no loogy in response, so let's note the personal growth.  Rory went the quantity route with five three-jacks, though that seems like more of an average day on the greens for him these days.

Did you catch the interview with Kooch?  I can't quite fathom what he was describing, because the greens weren't especially firm.  He ended up noting that there was just no friction so the balls could go anywhere... For those with an extremely strong stomach, Sergio's travails can be seen here.  I don't recommend it if you plan to play golf anytime soon...

Obviously the players weren't happy campers:

Rory McIlroy said it felt like a U.S. Open, Kevin Chappell called the greens dead and bald, and Keegan Bradley spoke for some who claimed the speeds of the putting surfaces bordered on the edge of out of control. The result: Some eye-popping numbers and not much fun for anyone, unless you’re a fan of car crashes.

Talk about burying the lede....Keegan Bradley apparently made a cut.  Who knew?

And while Ian Poulter has never been my cup of tea, this was my laugh of the week:

“A lot of caddies kept asking, ‘What’s this remind you of?’ ” said James Edmondson, the caddie for Ryan Palmer. “Everyone said, ‘Shinnecock.’ ” 

And when his back-nine 42 and round of 79 was complete, Ian Poulter blurted out “TPC Shinnecock,” only to catch himself and shake his head.
“I’ll refrain from saying anything,” Poulter declared, and wisely he moved to the autograph area and signed for a long line of youngsters.

TPC Shinnecock is spit-out-your-drink funny..... 

Let's turn things over to Shack for perspective:

While I never enjoy seeing a course setup go bad--especially when I know how sick the

PGA Tour rules staffers and weather forecasters will be following Saturday's TPC Sawgrassputting bloodbath--it's good to have days like this to remind people how close golf courses are taken to the edge in the name of resisting technological advances that no architecture can keep up with. 

When Stimpmeter speeds hover in the 12-13 neighborhood, the slightest bit of drop in humidity mixed with little root structure and unexpected wind can send greens that just days before were said to be too soft (but still wickedly fast) into a state of goofiness. We reached a point in the sport where the green is taken up to extreme speeds and allowed to play too prominent of a role at all levels in part because agronomists are so good at what they do. But mostly, it's about, but the professional game having outgrown just about every course on the planet.

As the 2016 Players joined the list of tournaments influenced by a setup gone wild, we are reminded again that the modern golf ball, when hit by the world's best, goes distances not foreseen by designers and therefore is not something manageable by any design under 8000 yards. 

The TPC Sawgrass, once a beast, is often overmatched in today's game. It's final defense, short of 5 inch rough and and adding new tees: extreme green speeds that are manageable until they're not.

 As Pete Dye says, the only thing he wants to change on the course is the ball...  It's short by modern standards though still a stern test in the wind.  The dilemma is that wind and water everywhere isn't a great combination, especially for a place that 51 weeks of the year is for hacks.  Though, to be fair, Pete has done a fine job of keeping the golf course surprisingly playable for the great unwashed masses, but most will consume a fair amount of ammo.

I don't want to leave without paying my respects to Ken Duke's Saturday 65, which Johnny called the best round of the year.  It was way better than Day's Thursday 63, but how ironic that the guy that handled the unputtable greens best happens to be 47 years old.  Go figure...

No. 17 was tame early in the week, but that didn't last....  No doubt you saw Will Wilcox's ace, though his curtain call didn't go so well.  But he gets extra credit for sending a tub of beer to the ink-stained wretches, and bonus points/pints for lifting a Stella with the lads.  As for the yellow golf ball...

Playing the role of Sean O'Hair this year was Scot Russell Knox, and he handled the difficult role with aplomb.  I wish his encore had gone better, but that which doesn't kill us...

Quick Hits - I'd be inclined to save these for tomorrow, but it's a busy week for your humble blogger.

RIP, Christy O'Connor - A legend of Irish golf has exited Stage Left:

VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) -- Christy O'Connor Sr., the Irish golfer who played

on 10 Ryder Cup teams and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, died Saturday. He was 91. 

O'Connor won 24 times on the European Tour. He also played 15 times in what is now the World Cup, winning for Ireland in 1968 with Harry Bradshaw. He also won the PGA Seniors Championship in Europe six times. 

He held the record for most Ryder Cup appearances - including the 1957 Britain-Ireland team that won for the first time after World War II - until Nick Faldo surpassed him in 1997. 

"We have lost not only one of the greatest Ryder Cup players the game has seen, but an incredible man," said Richard Hills, Ryder Cup director for Europe.

He lived in an era when playing the American Tour and majors was beyond his means, so his record won't convey his importance.   But as David Feherty noted on the NBC broadcast, perhaps his nickname will:

A big personality known as "Himself," O'Connor won the European Tour money title in 1961 and 1962.

They'll be tipping back pints to Himself at Royal Dublin for a while, as they should.  RIP.

The Rich Get Richer - As if we needed mare reason to return, comes this news:

Bandon Dunes is about to get even better. 

"We need more par-3s, don't we?" Bandon Dunes owner Mike Keiser said the other day by phone. 

Of course we do, and wouldn't you know it, Keiser plans to build them at his Oregon resort, where he's laid the groundwork for an 11-hole par-3 course, designed by the noted architect Tom Doak. 

With holes ranging in length from 85 to 200 yards, the yet-to-be-named course will occupy a knobby swatch of coastal land, just south of Bandon Preserve, the resort's 13-hole par-3 course designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.

Letting Doak design a Par-3 might seem like overkill, but Keiser has already had him (with shaper-to-the-gods Jim Urbina) design a putting green.   Think it might be any good?

At Least He Didn't Six-Putt, Again - What else can go wrong out there?  Well, this...

Sunday, the birds were at it again. Putting out on the first hole, Ernie Els was pooped on. 

“I was standing right next to him and it missed me and it got him,” said playing partner Justin Rose. “So they say it's good luck if the birdie manages to sort of land on you. And I guess it was good luck for me, not Ernie today, I'm afraid.”

Good luck?  maybe if it happens on your way to the shower, but on the first hole?