Mid-week Musings

I've safely arrived in Utah and am raring to catch up.....  One minor complication is 16" of new stuff, so we're on the clock....  Which tees up another of those world-class segues for which I am famed...

Sorry, I Nodded Off There - Karen Crouse uses her Pravda byline to take on slow play, specifically an Aussie that's announced his intention to revert to 33 1/3 r.p.m.  I don't think there's much that's new here, but as always let the protagonist make his case:

Last season, when Day won three times and posted top-10 finishes in three of the four

majors, he was put on the clock twice but never penalized. At his news conference ahead of this week’s Genesis Open, he said: “I would like to think that everyone in this room would take just a little bit longer if they had a million dollars on their mind. You just can’t get out there and just hit it just because that’s what everyone thinks.”

There's a saying in the legal world that bad cases make bad law, which fits here.  We all understand that on the back nine of a major things might display increasing viscosity....  The other issue that's never addressed is the conditions....  If the wind is swirling, you understand why guys are gonna take a bit more time to pull a club, and why that club pulled might also go back into the bag.

Shack tries to separate these issues, and names names here:

2. Consistently slow golfers who disregard the 45 second rule and fail to play ready golf. There are some--like Ben Crane--who has spent over a decade taking too long to play even a basic shot. Because they're "nice guys" or they make light of their pace in lame videos, they get a pass. When their play is so disproportionately slow compared to their peers, the behavior is unbecoming of a professional golfer. From an in-person spectator view, such play will make people stay at home instead of coming to pro golf tournaments. And its rude to a player's peers.

Lame videos?  That's funny, but we all understand Geoff's point...... And of course we're always conflating the Tour and recreational golf, as per this:

The movement to speed up the game is driven by the fear that it will not appeal to today’s youth with their increasingly short attention spans or older golfers with limited free time for recreational pursuits. “Is there a way to take 25 minutes off the average round, and is that necessarily going to make for a better product or presentation?” Monahan asked. “It’s not apparent.”

Admit it, you might be grinding your teeth at the subject, but picking up those 25 minutes isn't the cause... It's the flow of play.  If you're conscious of the group in front, you won't be a happy camper....If not, que sera...

Two more points....First, that Shack link has video of John Feinstein and Geoff arguing the subject of fines vs. penalty strokes, and it's Feinstein in a first round TKO.  Sorry, Geoff, but I'm a fan of name and shame, but on a Tour filled with DJ ski-jet accidents, isn't that a tad unrealistic?  And that doesn't even deal with the issue of the size of fine necessary to get their attention....

But, there's another issue not dealt with...  As much as we hate to admit it, the mechanism for identifying slow play is God-awful, and the thought of affecting results using it is really troubling.  The concept is that it's a group that come onto the radar, not individual players, with no allowance for how that group got out of position...  Then each member is timed... Yes, they're allowed one bad time, but how sure are we that this protocol identifies Ben Crane?

L.A. In The Rear-view Mirror - Geoff has a wistful post under this provocative header:

What Tiger Missed At The Genesis Open

OK, so whatcha got?

Horizontally speaking, the Genesis Open feels like it is headed for a bright future even

after the host withdrew from the field and could not fulfill the same duties he has admirably carried out at other tournaments benefiting The Tiger Woods Foundation. 

Unlike when he crashed his car in 2009 and cast a pall over his Foundation’s World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club, the Genesis Open went on with no shortage of intrigue. While a brutal storm halted play Friday and led to a discombobulated weekend, 72-holes were completed and a new lower-maintenance superstar ascended to World No. 1 status. The 91-year-old tournament played on a masterful design maintained its place as an elite PGA Tour stop without Tiger's presence.

It was about as good a week as it could have been, given the weather disruption and the lack of drama in the outcome.  But is there a superstar requiring higher maintenance than Tiger?

Tiger’s dented psyche and strained back certainly would have benefited from a few minutes around the infectious joy of Kevin Hall, the 34-year-old former Big 10

Champion. Deaf since age 2, the inspirational Hall raised the bar to possibly insurmountable heights for future invitee’s receiving the tournament’s Charlie Sifford Exemption.

Fond memories from Tiger's famous L.A. Open debut twenty-five years ago might have been conjured up watching the impressive PGA Tour debut of Pepperdine’s Shahith Theegala, who qualified in Monday’s Collegiate Showcase and rewarded the tournament by attracting a boisterous local following. Making the cut made for an ever better story, as Mike Jamesnoted in the LA Times. Tiger might have even observed that the Showcase needs to get more attention going forward. Maybe he'll read the press accounts.

The young man from Geoff's alma mater making the cut was quite nice, but I'm still not sure of the over-arching point.  This is a better-than-most Tour stop, and draws a decent field because of that...   Probably as good a filed as could be conceived, given it's place on the schedule.

It didn't play like The Riv this week, because monsoon....  He has more, though mostly of local interest to those attending the event.

Golf Digest also gets wistful with its slideshow of the best and worst of the West Coast swing:

Most Disappointing Comeback: Tiger Woods

Woods set an ambitious schedule of four events in five weeks starting with the Farmers

Insurance Open. He wound up playing just three rounds. After missing the cut at Torrey Pines, Woods shot an opening 77 in Dubai before withdrawing with back spasms. He then pulled out of his next two events and didn't even attend his scheduled press conference at Riviera because of his doctor's recommendation. Not surprisingly, his odds of winning the Masters have been slashed from 20/1 to 100/1 -- And at this point, even that higher number seems ridiculous.

Ya think? 

POTUS Potpourri - That Trump guys has been n the headlines a bit, hasn't he?  Mike Bamberger has this about the budding bromance between Trump and the PGA's Pete Bevaqua.  Although this seems a bit of a stretch:

Bevacqua, the son of a dentist and a caddie in his suburban New York boyhood, has been the CEO of the organization for a little more than four years now. It's amazing what can

happen over the course of four years. The PGA has never enjoyed a higher profile, at least not since the Walter Hagen-Gene Sarazen era of the 1920s. 

Through a series of bold decisions and with relentless energy, Bevacqua, 45, has become one of golf's most influential figures. He is a voice, and an occasional soloist, in the massive, cacophonous golf-in-the-Olympics choir. He oversaw the process by which the PGA of America wisely turned over the golf-and-competition reins of the U.S. Ryder Cup operation to the team captain and his players. Under Bevacqua, the historic LPGA Championship has enjoyed a higher profile after being relaunched in 2015 as the Women's PGA Championship. Bevacqua, with his staff and board, is considering moving the PGA Championship from its customary August date to May, which would give the golf calendar a different rhythm. Oh, and Donald Trump has Bevacqua on his contact list, as he has for some years—and he's been in touch.

Really?  That's certainly not what my Spidy-sense is telling me....  Isn't that listing of "accomplishments" in the second 'graph a little short on actual, you know, accomplishments.  Lots of giving up control and considering for sure....

OK, there's a cute story of "Please hold for President Trump" and I agree that they're relationship could become interesting, with two events scheduled for Trump venues, though the one that matters isn't until 2022, well into his second term.  That sould you hear is liberal heads exploding at that thought....

In other POTUS-related news, the R&A made news during the week, unfortunately for this:

THE 149TH OPEN TO BE PLAYED AT ROYAL ST GEORGE’S IN 2020 

20 February 2017, St Andrews, Scotland: One of the world’s great sporting events will return to the south east of England in 2020 when The 149th Open is played at Royal St George’s. 

The Open will return to the historic Kent links for the 15th time. It was last played at Royal St George’s in 2011 when Darren Clarke showed his mastery of links golf in challenging weather conditions to hold off Americans Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson to become Champion Golfer of the Year.

This is everyone's least favorite Open Championship venue, and the only one I've not played.  Jack Nicklaus once famously said that Open venues worsen as one proceeds from North to South.... no doubt this, the furthest South by some margin, is what he had foremost in mind...

There's also little doubt that the 2021 Open will return to The Old Course, it being the 150th installment.  Let that rattle around your brain for a bit... So that leaves us thinking beyond 2021, and here's the money quote from the R&A's Martin Slumbers:

Where the 2022 championship will be played has still to be decided, but Slumbers was at pains to suggest that the refurbished Ailsa Course at Turnberry -- owned by US president Donald Trump -- is still very much a part of the rota of Open venues. 

“We are focused on Turnberry as a golf course,” he said. “There has been nothing that has happened in the last year to change its status on the rota. It remains absolutely as one of our nine courses. Turnberry wasn’t involved in the discussions for 2020 and 2021 and we won’t be thinking about 2022 for at least another year. It is very important that we are clear about what out business is, which is making sure the Open is one of the world’s greatest sporting events and that it should stay out of politics.”

And we're also awaiting the results of the Muirfield vote on admitting women members....  In theory, Slumbers has one more arrow in his quiver with the addition of Royal Portrush to the rota....

The changes to the Ailsa have been universally well received, though there are economic issues in returning to the relatively remote Turnberry....  as well as political.  Stay tuned....

Lastly on our POUTUS thread, you've heard that Rory teed it up with the man I'm sure.  My interest is this bit:

McIlroy expedited his return to play a week early for the Trump International round that also included ISM agent Nick Mullen and Trump friend Rich Levine. More intriguing than the President is the golf with Mullen, who works for the agency that first represented McIlroy (photo on right is not the full foursome).

Let's see, you're getting ready for the majors and that career Grand Slam thingee.... and violating doctors' orders?  Was that wise?

And while this is getting tiresome, others think he should have declined for different reasons:

Sigh.  It's going to be a long eight years for you folks, but it's your own damn fault.  Though this tweet surprised:

Guys, here's a pro tip free of charge....  When Piers Morgan is the voice of reason, reassessment is wise.....nay, required.

I've been summoned.... powder (albeit, wet, heavy powder) beckons... See ya soon.