Sectionals And Other Sunplots

No time for pleasantries, let's have at it...

The Longest Day - It's called the Longest Day in Golf, so much so that if you were attempting to qualify in Ohio or Florida, your "day" couldn't be contained within a mere twenty-four hours.

Cam Morfit helps us sort through the best stories from the day:

1. As the 2015 U.S. Amateur champion, Bryson DeChambeau would have been exempt into this U.S. Open, but he gave up his exemption when he turned pro after the Masters. No matter. The so-called "Golf Scientist" with the newsboy cap and funky clubs shot 70-63 in Powell, Ohio, to shoot 9-under and qualify second behind Carlos Ortiz.

The science is settled, and the mad scientist is in..... Who cares how he plays, at least we'll have a Tuesday presser....

Nest up:

4. Pittsburgh's Mike Van Sickle, son of Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle, knows how to play Oakmont, having won a junior tournament there, and now he may get a return trip there for a slightly bigger event. Although Van Sickle lost a 3-for-2 playoff in Rockville, Md., the first alternate from that site earned a spot in Chambers Bay last year, and as any golf fan knows there's already one player (initials T.W.) who looks like he might need a sub.

No word from Cam on whether Van Cynical was on the bag....

This seems to have been the most dramatic moment:

6. Amateur Chris Crawford, who played for Drexel University in Philly, enjoyed the nuttiest finish of the day. On the bubble at the Canoe Brook sectional in New Jersey, Crawford played the par-5 18th hole up an adjacent fairway, hit his third shot over a stand of trees to 40 feet, and drained the birdie putt to advance to Oakmont. A two-putt par would have landed him in a 5-for-1 playoff.

More details and video of the putt can be found here.  Here's what the long day in Columbus looked like from Stephanie Wei:

Feel the excitement? One of the nice things about the timing of the NCAA's is that we get to know the kids over those three days and a week later we see them in Sectionals.  Among the college studs making it in were Aaron Wise (NCAA Individual Champ from Oregon) and Charlie Danielson (from Illini, who nose out Tony Finau in a playoff).  Georgia's Lee McCoy failed to qualify in Tennessee, but has declared as a professional and scored former Keegan Bradley luggage-toter Steve "Pepsi" Hale as his caddie.

In other news, official Mid-Am of Unplayable Lies Nathan Smith shot 72-74 to miss his home town Open, and former long-drive champ Jamie Sadlowski, allegedly with Gary McCord on the bag, recovered from a difficult morning (77) to shoot 71 in the afternoon, which gets him a mention on my blog.  For some fun background on the Sadlowski-McCord relationship go here, which includes a bonus Miller Barber sighting.

Book Club - Just a reminder, the first rule of book club is.... well, you know.

George Plimpton once postulated that when it comes to the writing about sports, the smaller the ball the better the book.  And of course he offered Herbert Warren Wind, Bernard Darwin and the other usual suspects in support of this theory....  I find it notable that his list does not include anyone most famous for the playing of the game, but perhaps that's about to change.

News broke yesterday about a forthcoming project from someone that I believe used to play the game:

Grand Central Publishing (GCP), a division of Hachette Book Group, is thrilled to

announce the acquisition of UNTITLED TIGER WOODS 1997 MASTERS BOOK by sports icon Tiger Woods, co-written with Lorne Rubenstein. Jamie Raab, president and publisher at GCP, negotiated world rights to the book with Mark Steinberg of Excel Sports Management, with Gretchen Young, VP, Executive Editor at GCP editing. The book will be published in hardcover, e-book and audio editions in March 2017 in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of Tiger's win at the 1997 Masters.

Tiger, then only 21, won the 1997 Masters by a historic 12 shots, which remains the widest margin of victory in the tournament's history, making it arguably among the most seminal events in golf. In UNTITLED TIGER WOODS 1997 MASTERS BOOK, Woods will recount, in his own words, his experience of winning his first major, becoming the youngest Masters champion ever. The 1997 Masters was Tiger's first appearance in the tournament as a professional; he had turned pro only the previous August. Tiger was already among the most-watched and closely examined athletes in history. He was the first African-American/Asian player to win the Masters, and this at the Augusta National Golf Club, perhaps the most exclusive club in the world, and one that had in 1990 admitted its first black member. His utter domination of the field after shooting a 4-over-par 40 on the front nine of the first round, and then recovering with a 6-under-par 30 on the back nine, captivated and astonished the golf world and beyond. Tiger has called it the defining tournament of his career, having won 13 more major championships since.

Let me just add the obvious "Wow" to this news, since Tiger has never seemed the sharing kind....More like he just wants us all to go away.

Lorne Rubenstein is a perfect partner in the project.  Not only did I love his Dornoch opus that's become the template for our planned Season in Ballyliffin, but Shack reminds of this recent interview in which Tiger was more forthcoming than we'd previously seen.  Back to the press release:

Woods will open up about his relationship with father Earl Woods, dispel previous misconceptions and will candidly reveal many more stories that have never been told before.

"The 1997 Masters was one of the most important tournaments in my life for many reasons," Tiger said. "I think about the hug with my dad and all the events that went on that week. A lot of people know generally about that tournament, but this gives me a chance to tell in detail what happened on and off the course." 

"It is a great privilege to help bring to light this vivid account by the legendary Tiger Woods of his barrier-breaking win at the 1997 Masters Tournament," Young said of the acquisition. "For the first time he shares with readers the personal, professional and societal challenges he experienced in reaching and winning the tournament, providing keen insight from one of the game's all-time greats on the Masters then and now, as well as on the sport itself."

To which Shack had this reaction:

Maybe a chapter on the changes to Augusta National that resulted from the performance? We can only dream!

He's saving that for the book he's planning with Dan Jenkins.... As if.

In his header, Shack characterizes himself as "Stunned, thrilled and resigned", and I'm in complete agreement with the first and last of those.  I hesitate on thrilled simply because I can't conceive of Tiger being sufficiently honest and reflective to make this the book for which Geoff pines.

But it's the last of those three adjectives that's most interesting, as this seems to be the kind of project that comes at the end of a career.  

And in other book news, the King wants a moment of our time:

"A Life Well Played: My Stories" is set to be published this October, reports G.C. Digital.

"Though I have written a number of books in the past, this one was particularly important to me, because, as I delved into the process, I realized just how much I still wanted to say to my friends in golf and to fans of the game in general," Palmer said in a statement announcing the book.

"Going through the exercise of getting it all down has been personally satisfying, but I couldn’t have done it without a dedicated group of individuals who truly believed in this project."

I was just talking with someone about how frail Arnie is suddenly looking, but how great that he still thinks he has things to share.

A Transplant Gone Bad - It's always sad when the host rejects a transplanted organ.... On that subject, I've lately concluded that golf would have been better served waiting for the 2020 Olympics in japan, a country with a true love of golf.

Submitted in defense of this proposition is this video of a Brazilian bird called a Siriema attempting to make an omelette from a golf ball:

Though, in defense of the bird, it didn't look much different than this shot by DJ on Sunday.  That video unfortunately cut off before the blimp footage, which reminded me of the O.J. car chase....  Good times.

Confidentially Yours - The weekly Golf.com confab had some god stuff this week, starting with the ceremonial reading of tea leaves:

1. William McGirt beat Jon Curran in a sudden-death playoff to win the Memorial, which represents the last time we'll see the game's best players together before the U.S. Open two weeks from now. With an eye on Oakmont, what was the biggest takeaway from how things unfolded at Jack's place?

Josh Sens: It was another rough ball-striking week for Spieth, which has got to be a worry for him headed toward the Open. He was able to Houdini his way out of some tough spots with his short game at Colonial, but if his driver stays wayward, it's going to be a long week for him in the Pittsburgh area. Or, rather, a short one.

Michael Bamberger: I think Oakmont will set up beautifully for Spieth--fast fairways will mean few drivers for everybody. The greenside shots are so, so tricky at Oakmont, I don't see how they cannot play to Spieth's greatest strength.

Mike, you ignorant slut!  We heard all about the milkshakes at Muirfield Village, but obviously Bams dipped too heavily into the mushrooms...

We kid because we love, but I'm with Josh on this one.  The big boppers may be able to hit less than driver on some holes, but Jordan will need his and need to find short grass with it.  Maybe those short-game chops can keep him in the mix, but I didn't see anything from him last weekend that I liked.

And this about Rors:

2. Rory McIlroy won the Irish Open with a left-hand low putting grip, then reverted to a more traditional putting style at the Memorial, where he continued to roll his rock well en route to a T4 finish. McIlroy is clearly finding his form but is it a troubling sign that he is experimenting with putting grips just two weeks before Oakmont? 

Sens: In a lot of cases, with a lot of players, putter-tinkering is a sign of trouble. But McIlroy is just reverting to the style he used to employ, which, if memory serves, helped him to four majors, among other things. That he's rolled the ball so well with this recent switchback seems more a cause for optimism than concern.

Van Sickle: Enter Debbie Downer or as I prefer to call it, the voice of reality. There was a reason Rory switched the first time. Because something was amiss. Going crosshanded didn't fix it so now he's gone back. Guess what? Whatever was wrong the first time is still in there. I'll believe he's fine when I see him pour in putts from all over Oakmont's slick slopes. I still consider his putting a long-term issue that remains unresolved--but I hope I'm wrong.

OK, while there's no downside to his great putting week, here's my take on Rory.  He's an aggressive putter, meaning that he minimizes break but therefore leaves himself more 4-5-footers than the average bear.   At the same time, he is among the worst short-putters out there...  I can't think of a great player that missed more short putts and, perhaps more significantly, misses them badly.  

When you're prone to four-footers that don't threaten the hole, one or both of the following must present:

1. Bad reading of greens; or
2. Alignment issues.

I'll remind the reader that per Rory, he liked the fact the left-hand low helped him square up his shoulders, so I conclude that 2) above is a factor.  But I've long believed that he's also a terrible reader of the greens, though he does also go on hot streaks.

I've never been thrilled with J. P. Fitzgerald as his caddie, who seems to be curiously passive as Rory implodes.  I'll also point to the silly penalty in Abu Dhabi that cost Rory that event and ask where J.P. was as that unfolded....  

The issue at Oakmont is that one needs to putt defensively there, and that's not Rory's game....My appetite for Rory next week appreciates with the amount of rain in Western Pennsylvania, as the combination of softer greens and the course playing longer plays into his strengths.

next, I wasn't aware of this Twitterstorm:

3. After inclement weather forced a suspension of play during the final round of the Memorial, CBS decided to air the tournament on a roughly 20-minute tape delay. Given fans could easily follow what was happening through various channels, including a sophisticated shot-tracking system on the PGA Tour's website, is there any defense for delayed TV coverage in 2016?

Shipnuck: It's easily the stupidest thing that's happened in golf lately...which is saying something!

Passov: I'm with Michael in the dinosaur camp. I understand the outrage, but I don't feel it myself.

I saw those notes on the screen, but I thought they had played in the morning to get ahead of the weather.   Does anyone understand what  hat twenty minutes did for CBS, as I'm not sure that I do....

This may surprise you coming from an insufferable purist,  but I'm  not offended by the plausibly live thing.  I watch a lot of golf on tape and the challenge is usually to get to TV/DVR before someone inadvertently spills the beans.  But then again, I'm not a twitter guy....

And lastly:

5. The USGA and R&A co-published a study on driving distance that determined from 2003 to the end of the 2015 season, the average driving distance on four of the seven major professional tours increased about 1%, or 0.2 yards per year. The study described this increase as a "slow creep." Would you agree with that characterization?

Shipnuck: It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

Sens: It certainly contradicts what the equipment companies have been telling us, not to mention cutting against the average fan's perception. If that's the case, why proliferation in 500-plus yard par fours and the general move to stretch out courses in defense against bombers? Maybe the leap in distance hasn't been as great as generally perceived. But slow creep? You know the old saying, if you torture statistics enough, they'll tell you anything you went them to. 

Ritter: How many of those drives were with three-woods? Guys hit it so far now, fairways and hybrids have never been more popular. I agree with Josh. The data may be correct, but it doesn't tell the correct story.

That last point by jeff Ritter is something I hadn't considered.   No doubt one unappreciated aspect of professional golf is the extent to which modern technology has now been applied to clubs other than drivers, optimizing launch conditions to such an extent that the guys don't have to hit the big dog.  Henrik Stenson and his 300-yard 3-woods would be Exhibit A...

The USGA report seems very suspect to those of us that are concerned, but is this issue lurking in the data?