But those musings will be largely of a year-end nature...
Looking Back - Everyone is out with their best of stories, many of which we've previously covered.... Today we have the most popular stories on GolfDigest.com, and it's a curious lot for sure, beginning with No. 10:
With Woods in semi-seclusion for more than a year, any news on the 14-time major champion was met ravenously, and this encouraging nugget, a tease to a larger "My Shot" interview with Jesper Parnevik, fed hopes of a comeback.
This was the item that broke about an hour-and-a-half before Tiger's WD from the Safeway....
This one I don't even remember:
Golf people love wonky rules issues, and this one about Jordan Spieth asking whether he could wet the bottom of his putter to better navigate "shiny" greens was so unique, left even veteran rules officials stumped. The rest of us were just amused by the question.
I had to click through to see how the matter was resolved, and that's as curious as the question itself:
Due to Doral's conditions, Spieth asked a rules official on Saturday if he could dampen his putter. After five holes of contemplation, tournament officials came back.“It was a split on the decision,” Spieth remarked. “They called the [U.S. Golf Association] and said that the USGA was going to talk about it further but for now we’re going to rule that you cannot do it.”
How could this be a split decision when we all know that one is not allowed to change the properties of a club during a round...
More interesting is Joel Beall's review of the most controversial moments of 2016, with the USGA and Phil headlining. I have a vague memory of this instance, though without the all-important details:
Compton was disqualified from the John Deere Classic for missing the pro-am. However, Compton only became part of the pro-am field when two others had to drop-out, and when Compton was notified, he was hours from the course. Compton ended up losing his tour card, and may quit professional golf. The PGA Tour has such rules to maintain the viability of the pro-am, and rightfully so. That shouldn't come at the expense of compassion and common sense.
You don't really need anything from me on this one... They've got a cast of thousands on retainer in Ponte Vedra beach, but no one has the cujones to step up and protect a guy like Compton. Just heartless and, yes, pun intended....
And this one is pretty rich:
Following an up-and-down Tour Championship, Mickelson complained about the stark contrast between East Lake's set-up and Hazeltine. "We're not going to have rough like that -- this is the worst rough I've seen in years. We're not going to have that rough next week. Why the Tour set it up so differently from what we're going to have next week is a lack of communication and working together."
Geez, Phil, you stuck us with that damn task force.... perhaps that's something that they should have addressed?
Mind you, his actual point seems pretty silly... Good luck getting courses in Georgia and Minnesota set up the same, but there were as many Euro team members in the field as Yanks. And it didn't seem to hurt Rory's play.....
And while the USGA secured two well-deserved nominations for their treatment of DJ and Anna Nordqvist, somehow Diana "Open Bar" Murphy was not mentioned.
Golfweek has a very conventional best moments feature, which covers arguably the two most emotional wins, those by Vaughn Taylor and Billy Hurley. Also this, perhaps the most emotional moment of the year not involving a death:
18. Se Ri Pak earns grand farewell
Pak ended her LPGA career in 2016, and while it was tough to see a legend call it quits, it gave players and fans a chance to honor the person who is directly responsible for the Korean domination in women’s golf.
It was a beautiful farewell at the KEB Hana Bank Championship, filled with tears and hugs, but most of all, appreciation.
And while I'm not a fan of the genre, I'm happy to also award her the selfie of the year.
The item includes the Rory-Reed taintfest, but somehow omits the Phil-Sergio shootout. And it's choice of the No. 1 moment of the year is just lame... I have no problem with it being on the list, say in the high-teens, but there's no rationale for it usurping golf that actually matters. Perhaps I was a little too quick to criticize Paul McGinley....
Predictions Are Hard... - Especially about the future....
Golf.com has a series of seven takes on 2017, and we've already covered Phil winning another major....Jeff Ritter suggests the following:
Six months later, it’s still hard to fathom how the putt didn’t drop.On a cool, bright afternoon at Royal Troon, round one at the British Open, Phil Mickelson had taken a run at history, shredding the venerable course with eight birdies over 17 holes. For the final act, he sent an 18-foot putt tumbling toward the hole for the first 62 in major-championship history. The ball bent gently right-to-left and tracked at the cup, dead-center.
A 62 is brewing. This is the year. In 2017, someone is finally going to fire a 62 in a major championship. Maybe even a 61.
Where might history be made? The year’s first two major venues, Augusta National and Erin Hills, seem unlikely. There have been just two 63s shot in the history of the Masters and four at the U.S. Open.
I think Jeff may be on to something, as the near-misses are accumulating. My only caveat is that, like Jeff, I don't really see it happening at either Augusta or Erin Hills. That leaves eight days to get the right combination of weather and course conditions at either Birkdale or Quail Hollow. But Quail Hollow in August seems ideal for such a breakthrough, so pencil in that Thursday or Friday.
Coleman McDowell offers this:
Each year on the PGA Tour, someone makes the leap.Hideki Matsuyama entered 2016 ranked 19th in the world, then rattled off five worldwide victories and will enter 2017 at No. 6. In 2015, Jordan Spieth made a similar jump – starting the year ranked ninth and ending it first. In 2014, Rickie Fowler climbed from 40th to 10th. It happens every year; sometimes it’s easy to spot, but occasionally it’s a surprise.
Next year's breakout star is obvious: It’s Brooks Koepka.
Maybe. The fact of the matter is that I can't make my mind up about Boroksie.... On the one hand, he looks like he's got all the tools and he sure looked comfortable in the Ryder Cup cauldron. On the flip side, though, he hasn't exactly been a stallion down the stretch and appears prone to the loose shot when it matters most.
Sean Zak gets no degree-of-difficulty points for essentially taking the field:
So for them, why not now? Here’s my call: Next year, one of these three players will join Spieth as a Class of 2011 major champion. The question is, who?
The three being Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger and Emiliano Grillo.... So Sean, you're not paid for questions.... Do you care to answer your won question:
Therein lies one of the differences between the trio of Spieth’s 2011 comrades and the heavyweight himself. They all would love to putt like him. Spieth has finished ninth andsecond in strokes gained putting over the last two seasons. Thomas, Berger and Grillo have never cracked the top 50.For them, that’s the next step. Whoever takes it first will lift a big trophy next year. And thus, I’m picking Berger. When it comes to the flat stick, Berger seems to be more consistent. In 2016, his best events with the putter were better than Thomas and Grillo’s best events. His worst events were better, too.
This is his year. He has four opportunities to get it done.
I have little feel for the man's game, but thought the buzz about him as a Ryder Cup pick was silly:
Last we saw Berger, he was on the short list to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team as a captain’s pick. Had he finished off his 54-hole lead at the Travelers Championship, he may have suited up in Hazeltine.
Ummm, what happens in Hartford....you know the rest. OK, he had a 10th at the Masters, never sniffing the lead, but one win in Memphis and he's a budding superstar?
Lastly from this series, Josh Sens makes me ponder whether his surname is short for sensimilla with this:
Peace on earth, good will towards men. That would be nice.Meantime, though, here’s something we’ll actually see next year. In a facility in Vienna, Austria, a team of researchers is working on a weapon designed to rid humanity of a grave affliction, a plague that eats away at minds and bodies, and clouds the souls of good men and women around the globe (children appear to have escaped the scourge).
Dementia? Arthritis? Reality TV?
Nope. The yips.
That's all? But do tell....
At Tyche, Maehr has teamed with experts in computer science, robotics, engineering,kinesiology and, yes, golf, to concoct a different sort of home-remedy, one that takes the shape of a scientifically tested, portable device.
Like a Woody Allen movie, or a Tiger Woods swing change, some details about the product are being kept under wraps (it is, after all, a competitive marketplace). But I can tell you its name -- the Tyche T1 -- and that it consists of two components. The first is a swing sensor that not only determines whether you have the yips but also measures just how bad you’ve got them. The second is a mechanism that interferes with the ball and your putting stroke in accordance with the severity of your problem. You can use it almost anywhere: your backyard, your basement, your office, the putting green.
Obviously missing from that list is the actual golf course....
Through repetition, the device retrains your body and mind. Maehr and Co. can take quantitative measure of the results, which have been impressive: in extensive field tests on yips-afflicted golfers, the typical jerky-yips motion has decreased by a factor of four, while the “repeatability” of a smooth putting stroke has increased three-fold.
The Tyche T1 is set to go on sale in Europe in the spring. Maehr plans to introduce it to the United States shortly after. Call me a pie-eyed optimist, but in golf, and in life, it helps to have a rosy outlook, so that’s my bold prediction for 2017: a time of healing for me and countless other addled golfers.
Color me skeptical... I can see the Golf Channel infomercials already. You know that chunk-proof XE1 wedge you bought last year, just pair it with the Tyche T1... add vodka as required.
More challenging is this Golfweek item on golfers under age 21 to keep an eye on, including this familiar name:
3. Maverick McNealyWhether McNealy, 21, decides to pursue pro golf or not (our money is on that he doesafter playing the Walker Cup this fall) remains to be seen, there’s no doubt that McNealy is good enough at this point to play professionally. He’s made cuts on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour already, and he’s qualified for a U.S. Open, too. McNealy’s mental game stands out, which is no surprise considering he goes to Stanford, and he knows how to manage golf courses. Physically, he’s gotten better year after year since deciding to quit hockey and solely focus on golf. He’s the top-ranked amateur and college golfer in the world, according to the WAGR and Golfweek.
Just a great name, but of course the interesting thing about this young man is that he might never play professional golf. It's an interesting list, one that I'd like to look back on in about five years....
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