Travel Daze

Sorry folks.... I had previously warned that Thursday was a travel day, by which I of course meant six hours drinking coffee at the SLC Sky Club.  But I gave Delta a mulligan and they were able to get me home to the loving embraces of Employee No. 2 in time for Friday dinner, so they've got that going for them.

But who knew a couple of days in early February would be so newsworthy....

Tiger, We Hardly Knew Ye - By now you've heard the news, which by now seems drearily inevitable:

"My doctors have advised me not to play the next two weeks, to continue my treatment and to let my back calm down," Tiger said. "This is not what I was hoping for or expecting. I am extremely disappointed to miss the Genesis Open, a tournament that benefits my foundation, and The Honda Classic, my hometown event. I would like to thank Genesis for their support, and I know we will have an outstanding week."

That guy will do anything to avoid playing Riviera....

Brian Wacker takes a shot at the "What Comes Next" column, but apparently his Magic 8-ball is in the shop.  he does, however, provide a little historical perspective that makes us feel old:

Since then? Woods, who turned 41 in December, has withdrawn or missed the cut 11 times in 23 starts. From the time he underwent his first back surgery in April 2014,

Woods has completed 72 holes in just nine of the 19 tournaments he has entered. 

It’s been nearly nine years since Woods won his last major, the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Yet how long has it really been? Consider this: 

• Jason Day was a rookie on the PGA Tour and still a year away from marrying wife Ellie. 

• Rory McIlroy was a teenager, a pro for less than a year and barely inside the top 200 in the Official World Golf Rankings. 

• Jordan Spieth was still playing high-school baseball, and Justin Thomas couldn’t even reach a par 5 in two.

 Thanks, Brian, but I'm able to feel old without your help...

Shack has a piece in Golfworld under this header:

With each setback, even more pressure on Tiger Woods

Yeah, boo-friggin'-hoo and all, though Geoff does add to our understanding on one issue:

Corporate sponsors want starts and he’s just cut two off his schedule. It was gloriously ambitious of Woods to think he could play four times in five weeks, but the schedule also made good business sense given that, like most players, he is incentivized to tee up. His much-ballyhooed TaylorMade and Bridgestone endorsement deals are laden with incentives, including a minimum starts clause built into the TaylorMade contract, according to sources. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the terms publicly. That was a smart move by TaylorMade but such requirements to play only add more burden.

When I heard about the WD's, one of my first reactions was amusement at the recollection that just a very few weeks ago seemingly knowledgeable folks were wondering whether signing Tiger would cause Adidas to keep TaylorMade.  No, really....

Did they get any value from the deal?  No doubt Tiger got plenty of air time on Thursday and Friday at Torrey, one of the few players guaranteed to do so.  But a couple of caveats:

1. He sucked;
2. He was playing a Bridgestone ball and a Scotty putter, so any close-ups on the green....;
3. He was swooshed up from head to toe; and
4. Did I mention that he kinda sucked?

Someone please explain to me the mechanism by which that helps move TaylorMade equipment...

Geoff, like your humble over-caffeinated blogger at the Sky Club, focused on the calendar between now and the first full week of April....  You know, reps...  Not a pretty picture, since he's not eligible for the Doral Mexico WGC.  It leaves him Bay Hill, Innisbrook and Houston as possible starts before the big one, only one of which "suits his eye".

He's gone into Augusta without a start before, most notably in 2010, but even that seems like eons ago...

And since everyone is playing to type, here's Joel Beall with the "No-S***-Sherlock" item:

Kevin Malone taught us that if anyone gives you 10,000 to one on anything, you take it. 

While he's not at "John Mellencamp winning an Oscar" odds yet, Tiger Woods' Masters prospects are trending in that direction.

Following his latest injury setback -- one that will sideline him for the upcoming Genesis Open and Honda Classic -- Vegas has inflated the 14-time major winner's 2017 chances of winning a fifth time at Augusta National. According to Jeff Sherman of the Westgate Superbook, the 41-year-old Woods is now listed at 100-1. 

For context, after mixed results in return at the Hero World Challenge, Woods' Masters odds jumped to 20-1, trailing just seven players in the world.

But Joel, have you been drinking?

That said, 100-1? The man does have four green jackets. I suppose there are worse ways to wager $10.

Joel, his last of those green jackets was 2005....  Have you been watching any golf since then?  Burn it, at least you'll get the heat....

A Pebble In My Shoe - I haven't seen a single minute of play from the Monterrey Peninsula, but that doesn't preclude my having strong opinions on it...

In no particular order, stories that amused or interested me...  The term "Crosby weather" has disappeared from our lexicon, which is a shame in this insufferable purist's mind.  But under any name that's what appeared on Thursday and Ryan Herrington has lots of anecdotes from the short 7th hole:

Luke Donald was about to play when he stopped, reset behind the ball and asked, “A

little right to left?” Yeah, it sure felt like it, but the flag was blowing back toward the tee, at about 5 o’clock. Now Donald was really confused. Uncommitted, he yanked his 8-iron left of the green, onto the eighth tee box.

“Huh,” said Donald’s caddie, Mick Horan. “I fancied 9 myself. It’s really an unbelievable hole.” 

Chris Stroud chose pitching wedge and, unlike most players, hoisted it high into the air. His ball hit a wall of wind and dropped 40 feet short. Safe.

Heck, that's nothing, on Tuesday they were hitting five-irons....Anyone remember what Tom Kite hit on Sunday at the '92 Open?

This former Golden Child had himself a good day at Spyglass:

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Jordan Spieth knew the pin position on the ninth hole at Spyglass Hill as much by memory as by sight, which was a good thing considering the

fog creeping across the Monterey Peninsula on Friday.

The crowd behind the green couldn't see Spieth, only a golf ball that landed behind the flag and spun back 3 feet below the cup. Spieth tapped that in for his eighth birdie of the round and a 7-under 65 that put him atop the leaderboard in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. 

Spieth was at 10-under 133.

Fun anecdotes about putting into the wind....  We'll have another Jordan item below, but I'm just glad to know that he's still on Tour.  

Phil phlashed some early form by holing a bunker shot on Thursday, but got even more props for this little impromptu speech to some MPCC members (video at link):

Mickelson, playing in this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, took some time to express his and fellow tour players' gratitude towards members of Monterey Peninsula Country Club for allowing the game's best to play their course.

Make no mistake, Mickelson's words are sincere: Monterey came to the rescue after Poppy Hills was poorly received by tour players in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am rotation. Still, it always feels good to get a pat on the back, so props to Phil for the salute.

Poppy Hills, what were they thinking?

Now here's a story I'd not heard previously:

Gary McCord made his first start in the Crosby Clambake in 1974, which was one of the wettest in tournament history. The opening round commenced amid rain and high winds. McCord stood on the tee at the iconic par-3 16th hole at Cypress Point Club 17 over par.

 Anyone not familiar with that golf hole?  

The tee box is out of the frame at about 7:00 or 7:30....  it's about 230 yards of carry over the Pacific Ocean, and to make matters worse the ocean is in play.  Meaning, you hit from the tee until a ball finds terra firma....

OK, so back to our story of the world's best mulligan:

"I had driver in my hand, and I'm thinking, 'How in the world I'm going to play the hole?' " McCord, longtime golf broadcaster for CBS Sports, recalled. "Then [Tour official] Gordy Glenz pulls up in a cart and said, 'Guys, the round is washed out.' I asked him if I could still hit a shot and he said go ahead. Even with a driver it had no chance of getting over the water. It had to be howling 50 mph."

The next day, with the winds abating, McCord stood on that same 16th tee 8 under par. "Only your basic 25-shot difference," McCord chirped. "Had to be the greatest mulligan in tour history."

When I was lucky enough to play Cypress back in the 1980's, I asked my caddie what the Tour pros hit here (Cypress had already been removed from the rota).  His answer was that the 1-iron was the club of choice, but that if the wind was up you'd see lots of 3-woods and even a few drivers.... What a golf hole!  And thank you, Marion Hollins, for being such a badass... 

Golf Digest has a slideshow of celebrity sightings, which is the usual melange of Bill Murray and Justin Timberlake....  But while I have not a clue as to who Kelly Rohrback might be, she can pout at me anytime:

But guys, it's been raining out there...  are you sure you don't have anything of her in a wet golf shirt?

Jordan, A Bit Too Unplugged - We all understand that the fame and fortune available to our golfing heroes comes with a darker side as well, it's just that we don't often hear it discussed:

“I'm not appreciative of people who travel to benefit off other people's success,” Spieth

said “I enjoy signing and sign for kids whenever we get the chance. And when these guys have these items that you've already seen online and people … our team keeps track of that kind of stuff. And these guys that just have bags of stuff to benefit from other people's success when they didn't do anything themselves. Go get a job instead of trying to make money off of the stuff that we have been able to do. We like to sign stuff for charity stuff or for kids, and if you ask anybody universally it's the same way.”

But of course his use of a certain "S-word" is what is grabbing the headlines:

“When you see guys that follow you around the entire round, they're saying afterwards, ‘We're huge fans.’ A lot of other people did follow the entire round and so I want to make sure I sign for them, if I didn't get them out (on the course),” Spieth said. “So I was just a little frustrated at the end and I didn't appreciate the language that was used and … just some scums that just, it just bothered me.”

Signing has to get real old for these guys, so much so that I hate to mention this.  But the way to get back at the "scum" is to make their efforts worthless by flooding the market with your signature.....

Shack had this as well, which sounds like the way to handle things:

At the Farmers Insurance Open this year, there was a special kids-only signing area that most players went to, though a surprising number didn't understand it was only for the little guys and gals and skipped it. But it's definitely something more tournaments should be doing. If nothing else, so the kids don't have to rub elbows with scums!

And lest we think that Jordan is imagining things, John Strege spends a few spare minutes on E-bay:

A cursory check of eBay on Thursday morning shows a flag autographed by Jordan Spieth offered up for $350, another for $375. A Spieth-signed pro-am pairing sheet is going for $49.99, a Spieth-signed program for $75. 

These items were all from the Waste Management Phoenix Open that ended only four days ago. Safe to assume that these are not 10-year-old girls or 12-year-old boys with entrepreneurial spirits doing business on eBay. 

We bring this up in the wake of Spieth having gotten into a verbal spat at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Wednesday with adults apparently in the business of collecting signed memorabilia for the purpose of selling it.

John, you're killing me... I had my eye on that ProAm pairing sheet.

 Never Too Early To Panic - Methinks that Ewan Murray is a bit overwrought with these worries that the membership policies of the 2020 venue will impact golf's long-term Olympic future:

The International Olympic Committee’s position on this is fascinating. Already, it is understood to have made its unhappiness over the Japan situation perfectly clear. Whereas golf was believed to be very close to securing an extended Olympic run in the early part of this year, issues such as this will not help. The joust between Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson in Rio, albeit overplayed as some kind of tournament novelty, was in golf’s credit column but what arrived before and after is hardly endearing. 

For more than 100 years, the Olympics could look at golf’s distinct troubles with a relief at not being embroiled in them. The change has not been for the better; red faces all round would be appropriate.

That's a good one....  Because, you know, the IOC was a paragon of virtue, with nary a doping scandal on its resume....  And that 1972 Basketball final?  Nothing to see here....

But this is the bit that got my attention:

For the IGF to issue such a warning suggests it either has a Plan B – Wakasu Golf Links has been mentioned – or believes Kasumigaseki will ultimately change its ways. But this rather misses the point; who on earth thought choosing this club was sensible at the outset, in 2013? If it did not know about the membership policy then, it was a dereliction of duty by the IGF. If it was known and accepted, then it is even worse.

This is the IGF’s second sizeable Olympic blunder in as many attempts; previously, they comprehensively failed to convince marquee golfers such as Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson why Brazil was both safe and worthwhile. And it should be recognised that the senior IGF officials are not rank amateurs, these are established administrators.

Where is the extreme vetting when we need it?

Now, we do have one small bit of good news on this subject:

A group of Brazilian businessmen have stepped in to assure at least the short-term viability of the Olympic Golf Course in Rio, according to the president of the International Golf Federation. 

“Things are looking a little better, there’s a group of people who have come together that have a relationship with the land owner there, and they’ve re-engaged enough of the greens staff to keep the maintenance going,” said Peter Dawson, the former chief executive of the R&A and current president of the IGF. “The greens staff are now being paid, which they weren’t.”

Though other venues aren't faring quite as well.... 

I know it's a minority opinion, but I was brought up with the understanding that when you lie down with dogs...  you know the rest.  

Nothing To See Here - We hear continuously that, despite the obvious improvements in equipment and especially golf balls, that amateur golfers are as bad as ever....  Really, who ya gonna believe, the governing authorities or your lyin' eyes?

Mike Stachura says that it just isn't so:

Golfers not only are getting better, they may be getting better at their sport than any other 

group of athletes are getting at theirs. 

This bold statement isn’t originally mine. I was having an email exchange with former USGA Senior Technical Director Dick Rugge, when listening to the recent Hot List podcast. When there was a suggestion that golfers really haven’t improved despite all the advances in technology, Rugge, who often talked about the subject of handicap trends during his tenure at the USGA, told me about some handicap data that suggested just the opposite. 

A quick call to the USGA confirmed that very fact. In the last 25 years, the average USGA handicap for a man has improved nearly two full strokes, from 16.3 to 14.4. For women, the improvement is no less impressive, dropping from 29.7 in 1991 to 26.1 in 2016.

That's fairly significant, as Mike explains.  But why, Mikey?

Why are golfers getting better? It certainly seems a reasonable suggestion that a key contributor to making average golfers better is the fundamental changes in equipment technology over the last two decades. Go hit some tee shots with a 1990 TaylorMade Burner or try to find a decent hybrid from the first Bush Administration. Quite simply, it’s easier to get the first shot up in the air and in play today than it was 25 years ago. And it’s also easier to hit longer shots from the rough or fairway than it was in the days of 2-irons and steel-shafted persimmon 5-woods.

Ya think?  

Mike does point out some of the offsetting factors, such as longer courses and faster greens, but so much of this comes back to the ball.  Not just that it goes further, but also that it spins less....  Though I'd have proffered that he not turn the item into an advert for their Hot List.

Since we're talking about players getting better, how about this guy?

There's getting hot, feeling it, in the zone, "He's on Fire!"... and then, whatever dimension Bernd Wiesberger's Friday performance occupies. In the second round of the European Tour's Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the 31-year-old Austrian put on a historic display, recording nine straight birdies at Saujana Golf and Country Club.

I don't care what miniature golf course he accomplished that on, it's still amazing....

Best Headline Ever - Some people really get the concept of click bait:

Luxury doomsday community announces "Course of the Gods" golf complex

Really, where do you start?  Here, apparently:

Trident Lakes is a luxury end-of-the-world gated community set to open in 2018.

Located in Fannin County in Northeast Texas, the $300 million development will feature over 530 fortified subterranean condos built to withstand a major catastrophe. Also set for the grounds are a spa, 100-stall equestrian center, four miles of jogging/biking trails, five gun ranges, tennis courts, polo fields, indoor gym, shops, restaurants, and statue of Poseidon holding a golden trident, billed as one of the largest in the world. (There's no room for subtly in the post-apocalyptic world.) 

Add one more recreation to the mix: an 18-hole golf course and driving range. In early February, Trident Lakes named Dave Edsall with DE Golf Design to helm the "Course of the Gods."

Yanno, I could riff on this, but there are times (end times?) when you just copy-and-paste:

Sprawled over 700 acres of land, the course will go along with the resort's Greek mythology theme: the par-4 18th hole will finish over two ponds and be called “Poseidon’s Revenge.” Other holes may include “Zeus” (a potential 650-yard par 6), “Hermes” (surrounded by hazards and boundaries) and “Nesoi” (an island-green par 3). 

"Course of the Gods" sure is an, ahem, audacious name for the links; not sure you want to be deriding the heavens after a worldwide disaster. Nevertheless, what better way to spend the final days on earth than an emergency nine?

Yeah, the emergency nine gag is a good one....  I also thought about whether they have four-hole loops in case the end times come ahead of schedule.....  But what in heck do you think this means?

“Dave’s experience and vision fits perfectly with the special community we are building,” said Trident Lakes CEO Jim O’Connor in a statement. “We’re confident we’ll have a golf course that exceeds our residents’ lofty expectations.”

What's he, a Nagasaki survivor?