Midweek Musings

It's not just any MM post, but it's a certain blogger's birthday....  and we have so very much to cover.

But before we get to our core competencies, a little ski video for your enjoyment.  This was made by the son-in-law's brother of my ski buddy Mitch.  They're Brits and came over in February en masse for a ski vacation.  Our auteur is named Joe, and his big breakthrough was the realization that falling wasn't, you know, painful.... so he lost his fear and tried to do everything, and comedy ensued.

But here's the best bit....  He's skiing a run-out back towards a lift, and somehow ends up down in a little creek.  You can see him flailing away trying to climb out, throwing his skis and poles up over the bank.  But the best part, and you couldn't stage this if you tried, is that a snowboarder comes flying over his head into the creek.

Now, back to our regularly-scheduled programming....

Run DMD - Fairly big news from the Tour where nothing ever changes:

For Immediate Release:

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (March 28, 2017) – The PGA TOUR has announced that it will begin testing the use of distance measuring devices during competition at select tournaments this year on the Web.com Tour, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. 

Each of the three Tours will allow use of the devices by players and caddies at four consecutive tournaments, including Monday qualifiers. For these events, the PGA TOUR will temporarily enact a Local Rule in accordance with Decision 14-3/0.5 of The R&A/USGA Rules of Golf, which stipulates the device can be used to measure distance only (use of functions to measure slope, elevation or wind will not be allowed).

Shackelford is strongly against the use of DMD's, so we'll let him rant on the subject:

Allowing the use of rangefinders on such a stage will, once and for all, allow us to see if they speed up play on the professional level and how they "look" to a television

audience. I suspect, as we've seen with other elite golf where players use rangefinders as a way to double check what they learn via traditional yardage books, that play will not speed up.

There will also be the dreadful optics of watching someone looking through a device, which is about as fun as watching people test virtual reality devices. Perhaps the rule will allow caddies to use them but not players?

But now we'll have data and visuals so that we can remember how rangefinders really only help when a player hits their tee shot into the other fairway.

Well, do we think they'll hurt pace of play?  I agree that it's not a great look, but neither is Charlie Hoffman, and we haven't outlawed him....  and that last point is pretty important, no?

Will Gray surveys the lads in Houston who, with one outlier, think it won't help pace of play:

“I don’t think it’s going to make any difference to speed of play,” Rose said. “We don’t play ‘one number’ golf. We want to know what it is to the back edge of the green; we want to know the distance over a bunker. We want to know what the distance is to a certain slope. 

“So it’s not as basic as, ‘I have 179 to the pin.’ You kind of make decisions out on the golf course based on what’s around the pin.” 

Rose’s sentiment was echoed by multiple other players, who added that the utility of rangefinders will hinge on how players choose to use them.

Really?  Maybe I don't understand the complexity of their worldview (a free Unplayable Lies subscription for anyone that can identify that classical reference), but doesn't a DMD speed up the acquisition of the first number.  Yes, they'll use their pin sheets and yardage books to slice and dice target options, but I can't see how it doesn't help.

In a follow up post, Geoff  adds this concern:

I'm happy to wait out the experiment, but unless the PGA Tour is willing to subsidize the cost for juniors, advocating these devices means they will encourage young and aspiring golfers to believe they need such pricey devices. And just like that, the entry barrier to golf that any sane individual says we must break down, become $300 more expensive.

OK, I think he and others have it backwards....  the case for DMD's isn't that they'll speed up play, it's that there's no logic for the ban.  

This guy has it right:

 Ben Crane, are your ears ringing?

Got Ten Seconds To Spare? - Portstewart Golf Club is hosting The Irish Open this year, part of a multi-week links season which many of us are eagerly anticipating.  Just click here and watch the aerial video of Portstewart.  

Portstewart is very much a tale of two nines.... the back nine is stern and challenging, but it's the outgoing nine that makes it's reputation.  It's golf routed through some of the most dramatic dunes to be found in linksland, as that video attests.  For those interested in more, here's my take on it from our last visit.

Masters Stuff - OK, while it's never too early to panic, let's hope this is wrong:

Hmmmm....a golf course playing long and soft?  Who might that favor?

But it's music to the ears of someone like Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman's four major titles all came on tracks that were softened up -- Congressional at the 2011 U.S. Open, Kiawah's Ocean Course at the 2012 PGA Championship, Royal Liverpool at the 2014 Open Championship and Valhalla at the 2014 PGA. It wouldn't surprise anyone if McIlroy used his distance advantage to capture the career Grand Slam. Then again, the American transplant has admitted he doesn't like playing in bad conditions, though, so maybe this evens out. Oh yeah, Dustin Johnson, that guy who wins every week now, is also a long hitter.

What Rory truly hates is wind, and that forecast isn't too bad there....  

Predictions are hard, especially about the future, but at least go out on a limb....  Shack, writing in Golfweek and Alex Myers, for Golf Digest, pick ten and thirteen players, respectively.   As I note frequently, the Masters field is so small that the chances that the winner will come for those lists is approaching 100%.

Hoping to see a certain guy there?  There's good news from a frequent critic:

And so, during a teleconference Tuesday morning previewing the Masters, Golf Channel analysts Brandel Chamblee and Colin Montgomerie were asked the following question: I think it’s an easy question, but do either of you see any chance that Tiger plays? 

“I do. I do,” Chamblee answered. “If you can believe anything that you read on social media – I know that his coach has been down there, and they’ve been hitting a lot of golf balls down in Palm Beach. The way I understand it, he’s been practicing quite diligently. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Tiger showed up at Augusta National.” 

For his part, Montgomerie said that if Woods does show up, he hopes fans don’t see the 14-time major champ bowing out after “77-78 and going home from there.”

I'm happy to see him play, if he's ready....  

It's Different Out Here -  Do yourself a favor and read this Ron Sirak piece on looping on the LPGA Tour.  Ron is a strong supporter of the ladies' tour, and he spends time hanging with the boys.  Shack grabbed this for his excerpt:

The days of the hard-living bag-toter who would close the bars at night and work the

next day through bloodshot eyes are mostly gone. These loopers are more than mere porters lugging around a 45-pound staff bag. Caddies have evolved into a mix of mathematician, psychologist, cartographer and bodyguard, all while remaining a Sherpa. 

“Oh, my, those early days,” says Killeen, smiling. “At our house in Oakmont in 1992 [for the U.S. Women’s Open] we had empties stacked up this high,” he said, holding his hand over his head. “What do I like the most about this job? The people. The travel. The fact I have half the year off.” 

And Killeen clearly relishes his role as house father of the group. 

“You should have smelled it this morning,” Castrale says about their shared house in Phoenix on Thursday. “At 5 a.m., he’s already got the Irish stew simmering. John sent out a group text telling us where the car was parked and saying, ‘Early guys, when you get home, don’t forget to stir the stew.’ ”

Good call, as it's quite the supportive community.  Ron also gets into the financial side, which is quite interesting...  And, of course, you know that my eye is drawn towards the brutal firing stories:

The LPGA says about 150 caddie ID cards are issued annually. Some show up at

tournaments without a bag, hoping to pick up a Monday qualifier or catch on with a player who just fired her caddie—not a rare experience. 

These days, caddies are sometimes fired by text message. One was fired by telephone on Christmas Eve and told: “We were disappointed we didn’t win a major this year.” To which the caddie said he was thinking: Hey, I’m not the one who hit that ball that’s still bouncing down Bob Hope Drive. 

Another caddie was fired by his player’s agent at a gate at the Manchester airport the Monday after the 2006 Ricoh Women’s British Open. And then there was Jason Gilroyed, who was fired by Jessica Korda at the turn of the third round of the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open and replaced by her boyfriend. 

“I was in that group, and we were on No. 10 tee,” says Killeen, who was working for Lizette Salas at the time. “I look over, and Jason wasn’t on the bag. I had no idea what was going on.” Later that evening, while sitting at a bar, Killeen nudged me and showed me his phone. On it was a text from Gilroyed that read: “Miss me yet?”

Just one more quick one... The revenge of the fired caddie:

Then there was the father who berated his daughter’s caddie so badly he quit. The next day, with Dad on the bag, the player got a bad yardage and hit a 7-iron out-of-bounds over a green. The caddie waited for his ex to finish then politely told Dad: “At least I can f---ing add.”

Just read the whole thing, and you can thank me later.

Wither Scotland -  Scottish independence talk is again in the air, which troubles me greatly.  I have no conceptual problem with the Scots asserting their sovereignty, it just seems to me that they want to do so only to capitulate to Brussels.  And that, is madness..... There's also the issue of the economics of the place, which look decidedly different amidst the current oil glut and diminishing North Sea production.

That said, laughter is the best medicine, and today's chuckle comes courtesy of our dear friend Elsie Coupland:

Scottish Independence 

If Scotland gains its independence in the forthcoming referendum,

the remainder of the United Kingdom will be known as the “Former United Kingdom,” or FUK. 

In a bid to discourage the Scots from voting “yes” in the referendum,

the Government has now begun to campaign with the slogan “Vote NO, for FUK’s sake.”

They feel the Scottish voters will be able to relate to this.

And they will.... 

Weekend Wrap

We're off to breakfast at something called The Biscuit Company, so no time to dawdle...

DJ in Full - I've historically been rather unimpressed by Dustin Johnson, as I never felt compelled to take his career more seriously than he himself did.  But the last year has been quite impressive, as Doug Ferguson notes:

AUSTIN, Texas -- The final day lasted longer than Dustin Johnson wanted. The outcome was what everyone expected. 

Johnson, a golfing machine with no discernible weakness and hardly any pulse, won the Dell Technologies Match Play on Sunday for his third straight victory, this one making him the first person to earn a career sweep of the four World Golf Championships. 

He had to work the hardest for this one.

Getting through seven matches will never be easy, but there's little harder than winning when everyone expects you to.

Rahm had these gracious words about the winner:

"What am I going to say that you guys don't know?" Rahm said. "If his putter had been hot, I wouldn't have had a chance, no question. ... It's amazing how he's able to keep cool the entire round. It amazes me. And he's just a perfect, complete player."

Rex Hoggard provides the overview of DJ's run:

Since winning the U.S. Open last June, Johnson has won six of 17 starts, including the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in dominant fashion. That’s a 35 percent winning clip that includes a major and three World Golf Championship keepsakes to become the first player to claim all four WGCs

OK, that last bit is a red herring, but six of seventeen is Tigeresque....  and Butch Harmon is well-positioned to make the comparison:

“He drives it great like TW back in the day. He's a good putter, not great, but good. He has learned to hit irons off tees which I've been pushing for seven years, and has a 3-iron with a graphite shaft that he hits miles. He really now has become the total package. As you know nothing rattles him. That is a big plus.” 

To be historically honest, Woods’ run in 2000, for example, included nine wins in 20 starts (45 percent) and three majors along with a WGC high card, but that doesn’t invalidate the parallel.

Well, if DJ wins his next three....  

The Tour Confidential panel took on DJ's ascendancy as well:

1. Dustin. Johnson. The World No. 1 continued to widen the gap between himself and the Tour's other alpha dogs by winning the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. (DJ never trailed in a single match, including in his 1-up win in the final over the surging Spaniard, Jon Rahm.) With three wins in his last three starts over big-time fields, has Johnson proven that his best is better than any other player's best? 

Josh Sens: It's proven that he's playing the best golf in the world right now. But we haven't seen McIlroy or Day firing on all cylinders over that same time period. When they're all at their best, the margins between them are so slight you'd need an electron microscope to detect them. Here's hoping that they're all running at maximum capacity at Augusta.

Jeff Ritter: Sens is right -- Rory has been playing his way back from injury and Day has been playing with a heavy heart. Jordan Spieth has a win this year and is essentially Las Vegas' co-favorite for Augusta -- but as we stand today DJ has reached another level. He's entrenched as the man to beat at Augusta.

As I said of Jason Day back when he was the Colossus Bestriding The World, when the best player is also the hottest player, it's not gonna look like fair fight.  But we've seen such streaks from Rory, Spieth and Day, so let's learn from those, shall we?

I was surprised to hear that DJ is playing at Houston next week, which points out the issue of having this event so close to The Masters.  DJ and John Rahm looked like they were running on fumes at times in their final, and seven matches is the golf equivalent of the Bataan Death March.  That would be my primary concern about DJ as he heads to Augusta....

I'd be remiss if I didn't just note that yesterday's final round privided a helpful reminder of why keeping a match-play event on the calendar is so important.  Yes, we lost Rory, Jason and Jordan too early, and Phil couldn't quite keep it going....  But put the event on a good golf course and the format will deliver....  It may not deliver in the final match every year, which creates issues with TV for sure.  But in the five days you'll find enough to make it all worthwhile....

Just a couple of notes on things that amused me before moving on....  Saturday night our Shack took his best shot at setting up the semis:

Roundup: Intriguing 2017 WGC Match Play Semis Set

I really love this final group of four in the 2017 WGC Dell Match Play and here's why: 

-Dustin Johnson, the best player on the planet. 

-Jon Rahm, Spaniard trending to become the best player faster than even his biggest cheerleaders expected. 

-Bill Haas, immensely talented veteran who plays quickly, yet overcame Kevin Na's horrific pace and is also peaking in time for Augusta. 

-Hideto Tanihara, hard-swinging Japan Golf Tour vet who puts the world in World Golf Championship. Oh, and he's going to the Masters now, Rex Hoggard notes for GolfChannel.com.

Geoff, I'll stipulate to three out of four.  But while I'm sure those NBC suits were over the moon at having him in the semis, trying to convince me to be interested in Bill Haas is a bridge too far.  "Immensely talented"?  Compared to me?  For sure....  When you look up "Journeyman" in the dictionary.....

This seems more like it:

I bear no animus to the Haas family, he's just kind of boring....

The Road To Augusta - The Tour Confidential panel also fielded this inevitable question:

2. The Match Play represented the last time a large number of the world's top-ranked players will compete in the same field before the Masters in two weeks. Besides DJ and Rahm, whose game in Austin indicated that he might be primed to charge up the 'boards at Augusta?

Sens: Mickelson administered a couple of pretty healthy spankings out there. Like a lot of people, I always like his chances at Augusta. All the more so after this week. But I'm still taking Rahm, as I did a month ago. 

Ritter: I haven't seen much of Alex Noren, but came away impressed. He's a proven winner in Europe and gave DJ his toughest battle of the week before the final.

 I had to dig deep to find anyone except Phil in their answers....  

I'm gonna go with the ever-popular time will tell...  Oh, if you're a Phil guy, I get that you saw enough this week to get your hopes up.  I just don't think that the match-play tells us much about the year's first major.  

This is at least a more interesting Masters query:

4. Jordan Spieth, who failed to advance through the round-robin matches in Austin, admitted last week that he has been unable to sweep his 2016 Masters meltdown under the rug. "The Masters lives on for a year," he said. "It will be nice once this year's finished … to be brutally honest with you." In light of those remarks, do you expect Spieth's Masters demons could impact his performance at Augusta this year?

Sens: More than being brutally honest with us, he's being brutally honest with himself, which you've got to love. It's a lot healthier than denial, and I can only imagine it will help him at the Masters. It's only natural that he's a bit haunted by what happened. But I expect those demons to vanish once the first shots are in the air this year.

Wood: Oh, if only we all could have Spieth's "demons" at Augusta. In his first three years of competing, I believe he's gone 2nd, 1st, 2nd. Of course he'll feel some butterflies as he walks to that 12th tee. But you know what? We ALL will. Spieth's demons will last precisely as long as it takes him to make his first 20-footer on Thursday, which if history holds will be within an hour. The fact that he's brutally honest about it is so refreshing, and if it impacts his performance, I think it would impact it positively. He's one of the few golfers who plays better with a little chip on his shoulder.

John Wood continues to impress in his analysis, as that last bit I think is spot-on.  He wants to be an underdog, which is kind of sweet given his 2-1-2 finishes in his three Masters.  But anytime the pin is on the right of No. 12, you have to expect him to fly the green....

As for this one, meh....

5. This year's Masters marks the 20th anniversary of Tiger Woods's historic 12-stroke win in 1997, and yet it's quite possible that Woods may not be in the field to celebrate the occasion. "I'm trying," he said on Good Morning America last week. "I'm trying every day to get back and play." Give us a percentage chance that we'll see Woods tee it up at Augusta. 

Sens: Two. 

Ritter: So pessimistic! Tiger absolutely dusted Michael Strahan in that putting contest. I've got him at 2.5, and I hope I'm wrong. It would be a blast to see him in the field and able to compete at a high level.

Compete at a high level?  That's a good one, Jeff....

And the boys are getting a little silly here:

6. Adidas is rolling out a golf shoe inspired by a Masters staple: the pimento cheese sandwich. Put on your Project Runway cap and propose another piece of Masters-infused attire that no golfer's wardrobe would be complete without.

Wood: How can one call themselves a fan of the Masters and not have a crisp, white, long-sleeved jumpsuit in their closet? Choose your number to put on the breast pocket, and the last name across the back in Augusta National green. I've begged and pleaded over the years to let me take one out on the town with me that week, to no avail. But I will say this: when we have to leave the practice facility and the caddie locker room and head across Washington Road to where the equipment trailers sit, we know what it must be like to be a movie star stalked by the paparazzi. Cars slow down, the women catcall, grown men want their pictures taken with us -- as they should. It is a part of the Masters as recognizable as anything else. Hey, maybe the winning caddie should be presented with a commemorative jumpsuit to the player's green jacket?

If you're the reading kind, Golf.com helpfully provides a summary of "A literary tradition unlike any other".   Among other worthy entries is this, which just happens to be in the knapsack for Friday's trip home:

The Gals - Are the developing a Tiger problem?  A good young player runs away from the field:

Mirim Lee came to Tony Ziegler last summer fighting a two-way miss off the tee. The

solution to her problem, he said, had been lost in translation. 

“Once she understood it,” said Ziegler, “she just flew.” 

Lee posted four top-four finishes in the remainder of 2016, and then broke through in a big way at the Kia Classic, where she demolished the field by six strokes for her third career LPGA title. Lee, 26, won twice in 2014 at the Meijer LPGA Classic and Reignwood LPGA Classic. She’s the fourth South Korean to win this year.

But all anyone cares about is the young lady that wasn't there for the weekend:

One week after playing bogey-free for 72 holes, World No. 1 Lydia Ko didn’t play the weekend in Carlsbad, Calif. Ko has missed the cut only twice in her 91 career starts as an LPGA professional.

With their first major this week, Lydia's game is clearly not in a good place.... It has to be the glasses, no?

Time to get started on my day, and you probably should as well....

Weekend Woes

It remains late spring in Park City, so the bride and I have been focused on the condo....  As well as the possibility of a trip down to the valley to tee it up.

Appointment TV, Not - So, an NBC executive walks into a bar and the bartender asks, "Why the long face"?   The joke is that it's likely due to his NCAA bracket, as he gave up on golf by the close of business Thursday.

No Rory, no Jordan, no Jason, No Hidecki, no Justin....  Christ, did you ever think you'd miss Sergio?  Here are your round of sixteen matches, along with Jeff Babineau's handicapping:

Dustin Johnson (Group 1) vs Zach Johnson (Group 16)

Dustin Johnson. Know this much, a Johnson will win. The long-hitting, World No. 1

version is on quite a roll, fearless, making lots of birdies, and is going to be hard to stop. But his opponent is a clutch putter who will put up a fight.

Brooks Koepka (Group 9) vs. Alex Noren (Group 8)

Koepka. Koepka held off a late run by Ryder Cup hero Patrick Reed on Friday to get to 3-0. He’s on a nice run. 

Hideto Tanihara (Group 5) vs. Paul Casey (Group 12)

Casey. A great tournament by Tanihara already, getting out of a group that included Jordan Spieth and Ryan Moore. But Casey is a killer in this format, his record improving to 23-8-1. 

Bubba Watson (Group 13) vs. Ross Fisher (Group 4)

Fisher. Watson improved to 3-0 by beating Thomas Pieters, 1 up, on Friday. Fisher got through against Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff. Nod goes to Fisher, who has more match-play experience. 

Soren Kjeldsen (Group 2) vs. William McGirt (Group 15)

McGirt. If you picked this Saturday morning matchup in the office pool, take a bow. Kjeldsen had never won a match in this event before this week. McGirt hit a great approach at 18 Friday to set up birdie and get to 3-0. 

Charles Howell III (Group 10) vs. Jon Rahm (Group 7)

Rahm. He doesn’t play like he’s 22, he kills the ball, and he putts it better than Howell. 

Kevin Na (Group 6) vs. Bill Haas (Group 11) 

Na. He played boldly in his playoff, and Haas was fortunate to survive extra holes on Friday, holing an improbable 90-foot chip. Granted, it’s a new day, but Na looks good this week.

Phil Mickelson (Group 14) vs. Marc Leishman (Group 3)

Leishman. It’s been a nice run by Mickelson (3-0), who hasn’t played on a Match Play weekend since 2004, but he hasn’t been pushed at all this week. Leishman has been in the thick of the heat last week (winning at Bay Hill) and this week (surviving a playoff). That’ll pay off.

I was able to watch all of yesterday's coverage, which had its moments....  As per this, DJ's dominance makes it clear who has the biggest Johnson on Tour:

Johnson, the No. 1 seed going for his third straight PGA Tour victory, again won the opening hole and showed why he might be the most feared player in golf at the moment. He shot 30 on the front nine, and all PGA champion Jimmy Walker could do was make the match last as long as he could. 

Johnson won, 5 and 3, and goes into the weekend having led after all 46 holes he has played this week.

Things being what they are, it therefore seems close to a mortal lock that he goes down this morning in the Battle of Johnsons....

There were no shortage of epic fails:

Justin Thomas (6) also was knocked out. Thomas had a 2-up lead with five holes to play until Matt Fitzpatrick won the next four holes with birdies to win the match. That got Fitzpatrick into a playoff with Kevin Na, who had a 4-up lead until Chris Wood won the next six holes and seven out of the next eight.

And speaking of epic fails, did you catch Sergio's drive at the 13th?  Carried it all of 30 feet..... 

The great escape of the day goes to Bill Haas:

ll Haas had just hit about the least clutch shot possible, yanking his approach shot on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff into a hazard. So what did he do after taking a drop? Hit about the most clutch shot imaginable, of course, a long chip that somehow found the bottom of the hole.

And that led to our "Funny, he doesn't look Jewish" moment of the day seconds later:

Haas' unlikely hole-out for par kept him alive at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship. It also led to an unusual situation moments later after opponent K.T. Kim ran his birdie putt four feet by. Haas conceded the comebacker -- almost as if he felt bad about knocking his fourth shot in.

It's called guilt.  No doubt he heard his mother's voice telling him to be kind to others....

And our candidate for Rocket Scientist, well that would be Tyrell Hatton:

Fitzpatrick didn't even endure the greatest frustration. That belonged to Tyrrell Hatton, his fellow Englishman, who lost to Rafa Cabrera Bello to set up a three-man playoff of stroke play involving Charles Howell III. 

Hatton had a 10-foot putt to win on the first extra hole, but just missed on the left. When he went to tap in, he set his putter down and nudged the ball. Under a new local rule, he could have replaced it with no penalty. But he tapped in and incurred a two-stroke penalty, and he was walking back to the clubhouse as Cabrera Bello and Howell played on. Howell wound up winning on the fifth extra hole. 

Asked if he knew the rule, Hatton replied, "I really wasn't thinking at that stage."

Or any stage, really.... What is it with these guys and the rules?  But, you know who else obviously was unaware of the rule change?  That would be Sir Nick Faldo, who cogently explained the former rule in his signature insufferable manner....

Well Earned - What's better than winning awards for sportswriting?  This:

Two worthy sports writers will be selected this year as the inaugural winners of the Dan

Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting. The fact that the award named after the legendary Fort Worth sports writer known for bleeding TCU purple is based at the University of Texas doesn’t make it Dead Solid Perfect, but maybe that’s Life Its Ownself. 

Jenkins is known from here to Baja Oklahoma as one of the best sports journalists to ever grace the pages of a newspaper or a magazine and both fiction and non-fiction books. 

“I get a tie with Red Smith and Ring Lardner, who have awards for sportswriters,” Jenkins said. “In fact, I've received the Red Smith from the AP sports editors and I am receiving the Ring Lardner from the Union League of Chicago the week after the Masters. Usually, you don't get these things when you're still vertical.”

This is well-deserved, though it's something like referring to Da Vinci as a painter....  Jenkins has covered the gamut from basic sportswriting to golf fiction and astute tweeting, he's a five-tool athlete.

The Waybac Machine -  My favorite item today is a provocative Guy Yocum item under this intriguing header:

If Ben Hogan met TrackMan ...

I thought you'd agree.... And how well does that go with the Jenkins item above?  Perhaps we should nominate Guy for consideration?  The premise is understanding the launch conditions of the famed Hogan fade, but it's the description of its ball flight that interests me most:

Of all the shots in Ben Hogan’s mighty arsenal—and he had them all—there’s one that’s still regarded as the single greatest shotmaking weapon in golf history. The Hogan fade,

played as only he could play it, was by all accounts a different type of ball flight entirely, something unique and never duplicated since. 

What was that fade like? How did the ball behave exactly? Common recollections have it coming off the clubface with tremendous speed, starting on a trajectory shading on the low side. The ball maintained a flattish flight, never taking on the rainbow-like arc of ordinary driver shots. At a point in its flight where the eyes tell you the ball is about to stall a bit and come down, it did something magical. 

“It kind of turbo-boosted,” says Chuck Cook, the Texas teacher, who as a young man in the 1970s spent two days alone watching Hogan practice at Shady Oaks in Fort Worth , well after Hogan had stopped competing. “I don’t know how else to describe it. It seemed to re-energize itself and keep going.” 

The ball continued forward on a dead-straight line, reaching the peak of its flight. Only when it began to fall did it take on the fading characteristic, moving left-to-right very gently, perhaps a few yards. Even then the strangeness of it wasn’t complete. Rather than settle abruptly as all fades played with persimmon and balata tended to do, it rolled after landing.

As most know, Hogan battled an uncontrollable hook early in his career, and it was only when he was able to control the hook that he became Hogan..... This is also quite interesting:

Says Jim McLean, one of the world’s greatest instructors and a Hoganphile who authored 

the fine The Complete Hogan, “You can imagine what that fade looked like when Hogan was at his peak. He was a very long hitter, you know. He visited Spalding one time, and they had a radar device that measured clubhead speed. Hogan with the driver clocked at 132 miles per hour, the fastest among all the pros.” 

“He was a human launch monitor, a living, breathing TrackMan,” says McLean. “He was a machine.”

We think of him as a machine, not as a power player.  But 132 mph in that era is quite amazing....

Now Guy loses me as he goes into the weeds with this, but you may enjoy this part of the discussion more than I:

The near-universal belief that Hogan swung the club slightly to the left through impact requires that his clubface not be open relative to the target. An open clubface combined with a leftward path, is a lethal combination—slice city. Thus, the teachers who voted for a -1 path, all combined it with a clubface that was at 0—perfectly square to the target line. This indicates that Hogan was, above all, a “path fader.” The very slight left-to-right fade he imposed—again, we’re talking a few yards here—was the result of his path, not an open clubface. One teacher (Leadbetter) suggested that Hogan’s clubface could have been -1, or closed to the target line. But he combines it with a path that was possibly -2, making it a safe and reasonable opinion.

I shouldn't need to tell you to read the whole thing, as it's great stuff and what else do you have to do with your day?  But I'm left with two questions....

First, was the Hogan fade an accommodation to the persimmon heads and balata balls of his era, or could it work as well with today's equipment.

Second ( and Shack did ask this first), how would Hogan have used Trackman?  Would he have it every day on the range, or was he such a machine that he could tell from his ball flight how he needed to adapt?

There's match-play golf to watch, so why are you reading a damn blog?

Loose Ends

I gave up a powder day to spend with the bride... at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Didn't even watch much golf...

Match-Play Mishegoss - It all comes to a head today, with the potential for some playoff action.... But it's good to see the Bubbameister in such good spirits:

AUSTIN, Texas – Bubba Watson hasn’t played very well for several months, but that hasn’t dampened his love for the game.

Not one bit. 

Watson had just finished off Scott Piercy, 4 and 3, in a dazzling display of power in Round 2 of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on Thursday, and Piercy told him he still was going to play the remaining three holes. 

“Hold on, I’ll join you,” Watson said. 

And once they finished on the 18th green, Watson, whose match had been the first one off at Austin Country Club during the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, had a completely open afternoon in front of him. The possibilities were endless. So where was he headed? 

“I’m going to watch the (TV) coverage,” said Watson, who is 2-0 this week, like some little kid about to visit the zoo. He was genuinely excited. “With the windy conditions, it’s going to be amazing.”

Sometimes it's just fun to be reminded that it's a game....

Here's your lineup for today:

GROUP 11

Danny Willett (0-2) vs. Russell Knox (1-1), Willett 1 up through 10

Bill Haas (1-1) vs. K.T. Kim (2-0), Haas 1 up through 9 

GROUP 6

Justin Thomas (1-1) vs. Matt Fitzpatrick (1-1), Thomas 1 up through 9

Kevin Na (2-0) vs. Chris Wood (0-2), Na 4 up through 7 

GROUP 14

Phil Mickelson (2-0) vs. J.B. Holmes (0-1-1), Mickelson 3 up through 6

Daniel Berger (1-1) vs. Si Woo Kim (0-1-1), Kim 1 up through 5 

GROUP 3

Marc Leishman (2-1) def. Jason Day (0-3), WD

Lee Westwood (1-1) vs. Pat Perez (2-0), All Square through 4

GROUP 10

Tyrrell Hatton (2-0) vs. Rafa Cabrera-Bello (1-1), All Square through 3

Jeunghun Wang (0-2) vs. Charles Howell III (1-1), Howell III 1 up through 2 

GROUP 7

Sergio Garcia (1-0-1) vs. Jon Rahm (2-0), All Square through 1

Kevin Chappell (0-2) vs. Shane Lowry (0-1-1), 10:31 a.m. 

GROUP 15

Branden Grace (1-1) vs. Brandt Snedeker (1-1), 10:42 a.m.

William McGirt (2-0) vs. Andy Sullivan (0-2), 10:53 a.m. 

GROUP 2

Rory McIlroy (1-1) vs. Emiliano Grillo (0-2), 11:04 a.m.

Soren Kjeldsen (3-0) def. Gary Woodland (1-2), WD 

GROUP 12

Paul Casey (2-0) vs. Charl Schwartzel (2-0), 11:26 a.m.

Ben An (0-2) vs. Joost Luiten (0-2), 11:37 a.m. 

GROUP 5

Jordan Spieth (1-1) vs. Ryan Moore (0-0-2), 11:48 a.m.

Yuta Ikeda (0-1-1) vs. Hideto Tanihara (1-0-1), 11:59 a.m. 

GROUP 13

Bubba Watson (2-0) vs. Thomas Pieters (1-1), 12:10 p.m.

Scott Piercy (0-2) vs. Jhonattan Vegas (1-1), 12:21 p.m. 

GROUP 4

Hideki Matsuyama (0-1-1) vs. Louis Oosthuizen (1-1), 12:32 p.m.

Ross Fisher (1-1) vs. Jim Furyk (1-0-1), 12:43 p.m. 

GROUP 9

Patrick Reed (0-1-1) vs. Brooks Koepka (2-0), 12:54 p.m.

Kevin Kisner (1-1) vs. Jason Dufner (0-1-1), 1:05 p.m. 

GROUP 8

Alex Noren (3-0) def. Francesco Molinari (0-3), WD

Bernd Wiesberger (1-1) vs. Thongchai Jaidee (1-1), 1:27 p.m. 

GROUP 16

Matt Kuchar (0-1-1) vs. Tommy Fleetwood (1-1), 1:38 p.m.

Zach Johnson (1-1) vs. Brendan Steele (1-0-1), 1:49 p.m. 

GROUP 1

Dustin Johnson (2-0) vs. Jimmy Walker (1-1), 2 p.m.

Martin Kaymer (1-1) vs. Webb Simpson (0-2), 2:11 p.m.

First, apologies for getting to the keyboard so late (with matches already on the golf course), but your humble blogger was kept out way past his bedtime last night...

I'm not suggesting that we outlaw injuries and personal issue, but boy have the played havoc with the brackets.  Most notably, the Woodland WD rendering Rory a dead man walking.... Unfortunate that...

Absent bracket status, one's eye is naturally drawn to the Battle of Spain in Group 7, and lucky us that will determine who advances to the weekend.  The only other battle of unbeatens is Charl v. Casey, and that won't exactly move the needle for Golf Channel.

I also would be remiss in noting that few expected Patrick Reed to be 0-1-1 at this juncture, as Ryder Cup performance is an indicator of match-play prowess, except when it's not...

Jordan Spieth remains alive, though he'd have to beat Ryan Moore and pray for the outcome of the made-for-television Yuta Ikeda vs. Hideto Tanihara match.  NBC has its fingers and legs crossed in hope that DJ, Phil and Bubba make it to tomorrow afternoon...

Any remaining questions as to why the TV era was the death knell for match-play?  It's great fun, but perhaps after being dusted by Hideto Tanihara our Jordan will revisit his hope of a major contested at match-play?

A Cautionary Tale - Alan Shipnuck is expanding his Knockdown platform (whatever that means) to give voice to other....well, voices....  Today its Dylan Dethier, of whom you've never heard and, except for this item, never will.  The title says it all:

When really, really good isn't good enough: Inside one golfer's attempt to live his dream

It's what you expect, but just a tad more insightful along these lines:

And in my two-and-a-half years as a professional golfer, I've learned two things. The 

Dylan (l) with buddy Cody Semmelrock.

first: I'm basically trash. Plenty of guys can fly it 300 yards, and lots of them can keep it in the fairway more often than me. Everyone can hit that flop shot, and there are guys who are far steadier putters than I am. Although I've made a ton of progress from a middling, distinctly unprofessional Division III college career, my tour-ready rounds have remained the exception rather than the rule. 

But the second thing I've learned complicates matters: In golf, everyone is kind of trash right up until the moment when they're not. It's a sport where progress is confusing; in football or basketball, if you're not on the track to the pros by the time you're a teen, there's not much hope for you. But many golfers take roundabout routes to the PGA Tour, which requires playing well at a few very specific tournaments—Q school, in particular—and then cashing in on the opportunities that come thereafter.

Golf is so much more interesting because it doesn't rely on raw physical talent, but as Dylan notes, this makes it terribly problematic to know when the dream deserves a "pipe" as prologue.

 It's a long piece, but well worth your time.

Phil, Unfazed or Unhinged? - My understanding was that he's not just a witness, but the pivotal witness in the forthcoming trial of buddy/loanshark Billy Walters.  Not so says our hero:

AUSTIN, Texas — While his name has been mentioned as a pivotal figure in a federal insider trading criminal trial, Phil Mickelson shrugged off any hint that will be hanging

over him this week or in the run up to the Masters next month — both with his play and his comments. 

“I’m not a part of that,” Mickelson said after easily winning his first-round match Wednesday at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. “It’s not even a thought.”

But prosecutors and defense attorneys for gambler William “Billy” Walters have said Mickelson would be a key figure in the trial in New York, and the judge hinted to jurors last week the five-time major champion could be called to testify.

The man has led a charmed life, for sure.  What was interesting is that both sides identified Phil as the guy that would make their case, so what's the likelihood that both have had a change of heart?

Gotta run, so enjoy the last of match-play pool competition, hopefully including a few playoffs.

The Golf Ball Wars

Mike Stachura and E. Michael Johnson are the chief gearheads at Golf Digest and have filed this quite interesting analysis of what could be the Hundred Years War between Costco and Acushnet.  I will excerpt liberally and offer my thoughts, but if the business side of the game is of any interest you'll want to read the entire thing for yourself.

We'll start with this overview:

In layman’s terms, Costco’s suit for what’s called a declaratory judgment against

Acushnet is essentially a preemptive strike, a lawsuit aiming to prevent a lawsuit. In actuality, it’s probably not going to work that way. 

In its complaint, Costco references a “threatening letter” it received from Acushnet accusing the Kirkland Signature ball—the $15-a-dozen multilayer, urethane-cover tour-type ball that’s been a bit of a cult sensation—of violating 11 patents. Costco is asking the court to rule that the Kirkland Signature not only does not violate the 11 patents but that the 11 patents themselves are invalid. 

That’s a bold ask in the world of golf ball patents, especially where Acushnet is concerned. Acushnet holds more U.S. patents in golf ball technology than any other company (more than 1,200), and its latest tour-dominant Pro V1 and Pro V1x multilayer urethane cover balls continue to rule the golf ball marketplace at nearly $50 a dozen.

That bit about avoiding a lawsuit is amusing, as the Tirleist golf ball business is the single most valuable book of business in the golf world.  Acushnet is going to defend that business to the death....

Costco finds itself in an awkward position to the extent that it's uncertain whether its golf ball violates Acushnet's patents, and thus a declaratory judgement would tell them where they stand.  However, word on the street is that Costco is prepared to resume selling its golf ball (set aside, for the moment, whether it will be the same golf ball sold in small quantities last year), and this process could take a decade or more....

Complicating matters is the portion of the motion that requests that the patents be invalidated, which is a declaration of war.  The authors analogize the lawsuit to a game of chicken, and I can see that here....  Obviously, were Acushnet willing to stipulate that the Costco balls don't infringe on their patents, Costco would logically withdraw its action to attack the underlying patents.  The problem is that if I can see that play, so can the other guys and their quite unlikely to play....

The other dilemma for Costco is that this is far more important for Acushnet than for the plaintiff.  The authors do offer this useful background:

Costco’s business model is driven on finding extreme savings on quality goods for its members. Although it recently delivered disappointing second quarter sales numbers, it remains relentlessly successful, moreso than any other retailer, in pursuing its mission statement “to continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices.” It’s shown that to do so it will go to court to defend that right, even if that means years worth of trials. It once went more than a decade, including an appeal to the Supreme Court, fighting for the right to sell gray-market Omega watches purchased overseas for less than what an authorized U.S. dealer was allowed to charge—and won.

OK, but is that really applicable here?  Grey market goods are a far different issue than intellectual property, and for a category in which Costco has never competed.  As the author's recount, Acushnet has a long history of aggressively litigating to protect their market position, and of doing so successfully....   

But I should add that Costco is not only a good company in terms of its long-term growth, but also has a great reputation for its relationships with its suppliers.  That said, it may be that the company has reached a stage where continued growth is hard to sustain, and this push into a new category may have more to do with Costco itself than the golf industry.  But if a company struggling for growth covets a spot in the golf world, that's irony on steroids....

So, why go after the King?

“It’s a problem for the alleged infringer if the patent holder doesn’t sue them, so this does two things,” said Rochelle C. Dreyfuss, the Pauline Newman Professor of Law at New

York University School of Law. “It accelerates the lawsuit, which sometimes the alleged infringer wants, and it also gives the alleged infringer a choice of court.” 

Rather than let Acushnet’s so-called “threatening letter” linger, Costco decided to assert that the Kirkland Signature ball among other claims, does not infringe Acushnet patents for the relative hardness of the ball’s cores, the springiness of the core, and the dimples’ surface coverage. It also is asking the court to declare the 11 Acushnet patents invalid. 

“Costco finally said ‘Screw you, you want to play this as a game? Well, we’re actually going to bring a lawsuit and now you’re going to be forced to defend a lawsuit,’” said Dreyfuss, who has co-authored books on intellectual property law and international intellectual property law.

Fine, but "Screw you" is an emotional response, and when you go after the King you better kill him:

“Once Acushnet files an answer [to the suit], and probably a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Costco is likely to seek a summary judgment ruling that they don’t infringe the patents to try to dispose of the matter,” he wrote in an email. 

What’s not clear is just how strong a case Costco can make in its effort to detail the invalidity of Acushnet’s patents, or whether, given its limited knowledge base in golf ball technology (the Kirkland Signature is its first private label golf ball), it can stand toe-to-toe with the industry leader. Invalidating patents is not easy and it will take a lot of time, especially when it comes to the kind of golf ball patents developed by Acushnet, the kind that have stood the test before. 

Moreover, Costco has to navigate a difficult timeline. Although it’s already on record saying it will return to selling the Kirkland Signature in limited quantities next month, those sales could be problematic if it’s not granted a declaratory action, or worse if Acushnet files a counter claim. In that case, if Acushnet ends up the winner, damages would be trebled.

Treble damages?  The authors see it much like I do:

And therein lies the question. Although this might be “a matter of principle” for Costco, one has to wonder how much stomach it has for a protracted—and perhaps extremely costly—legal tussle with an opponent known to fight such matters to the end. For all the media hype and the cult-like status afforded the Kirkland Signature ball, fact is its contribution to Costco’s bottom line is likely no more than an accounting rounding error due to its inability to produce more than limited quantities of the ball.

There's a tremendous amount that we don't know.  I would have liked the authors to provide a bit more on the action to invalidate the patents, and some sense of whether they seem to have anything there.

But what I find fascinating is that we don't even know what ball is under discussion.  Remember that the original K-Sig ball came about because a manufacturer had excess cores from the discontinued Nike ball business, and sold them on the cheap to Costco...  That's the limitation on upside to which the authors are seemingly referring in that last excerpt above.

But the USGA's list of conforming balls reportedly includes a new K-Sig ball, and one logically assumes that this ball can be produced in quantities sufficient to meet demand.  But also unknown are the economics of this ball, though logically they won't be able to match their aggressive pricing of last year's ball.  And that "cult-like status" wasn't because they produced a ball as good as the ProV1, there are quite a few of those...  It was the $15/Dozen retail price....

To the extent that this goes forward, we will undoubtedly learn a lot more about the golf ball business.  No doubt the margins are substantial, and that the price of Tour balls is artificially high, at least as relates to the direct manufacturing costs.  The business does have heavy R&D and promotional costs, but undercutting the price will bring down the wrath of Khan....

This conclusion seems inarguable:

It might not be fun to be in the middle of such a confrontation, but it ought to be fun to watch.

And yet, argue I shall....  I see where Costco can do golfers quite a bit of good....  I'm just having trouble seeing a scenario that's good for the shareholders of Costco. 

Midweek Musings

My Park City real estate broker is a lovely gent named Mark Jacobson.  In a small-world story, his stepson Cole is also a hotshot mogul skier, so Mark was also at Sun Valley last weekend.  Because the two kids were virtually back-to-back in the run order, he was able to grab this rather dramatic photo of Zack:

These crazy kids, eh?

Yesterday was my first day out on my home mountain since that photo I posted of myself in which the powder was up to my armpits....  and the intervening period hasn't been kind.  Two weeks of extremely warm whether have changed the color scheme from white to earth tones, not a good thing.... This might well be the final ski blogging of the season.

Match-Play Madness - OK, here's your listing of today's matches:

GROUP 1

Dustin Johnson vs. Webb Simpson, 1:48 p.m.

Jimmy Walker vs. Martin Kaymer, 1:59 p.m. 

GROUP 2

Rory McIlroy vs. Soren Kjeldsen, 10:52 a.m.

Emiliano Grillo vs. Gary Woodland, 11:03 a.m. 

GROUP 3

Jason Day vs. Pat Perez, 3:16 p.m.

Marc Leishman vs. Lee Westwood, 3:27 p.m. 

GROUP 4

Hideki Matsuyama vs. Jim Furyk, 12:20 p.m.

Louis Oosthuizen vs. Ross Fisher, 12:31 p.m.

GROUP 5

Jordan Spieth vs. Hideto Tanihara, 11:36 a.m.

Ryan Moore vs. Yuta Ikeda, 11:47 a.m. 

GROUP 6

Justin Thomas vs. Chris Wood, 2:32 p.m.

Matt Fitzpatrick vs. Kevin Na, 2:43 p.m. 

GROUP 7

Sergio Garcia vs. Shane Lowry, 4 p.m.

Jon Rahm vs. Kevin Chappell, 4:11 p.m. 

GROUP 8

Alex Noren vs. Thongchai Jaidee, 1:04 p.m.

Francesco Molinari vs. Bernd Wiesberger, 1:15 p.m. 

GROUP 9

Patrick Reed vs. Jason Dufner, 12:42 p.m.

Brooks Koepka vs. Kevin Kisner, 12:53 p.m. 

GROUP 10

Tyrrell Hatton vs. Charles Howell III, 3:38 p.m.

Rafa Cabrera Bello vs. Jeunghun Wang, 3:49 p.m. 

GROUP 11

Danny Willett vs. K.T. Kim, 2:10 p.m.

Russell Knox vs. Bill Haas, 2:21 p.m. 

GROUP 12

Paul Casey vs. Joost Luiten, 11:14 a.m.

Charl Schwartzel vs. Ben An, 11:25 a.m. 

GROUP 13

Bubba Watson vs. Jhonattan Vegas, 11:58 a.m.

Thomas Pieters vs. Scott Piercy, 12:09 p.m.

GROUP 14 

Phil Mickelson vs. Si Woo Kim, 2:54 p.m.

J.B. Holmes vs. Daniel Berger, 3:05 p.m. 

GROUP 15

Branden Grace vs. Andy Sullivan, 10:30 a.m.

Brandt Snedeker vs. William McGirt, 10:41 a.m. 

GROUP 16

Matt Kuchar vs. Brendan Steele, 1:26 p.m.

Tommy Fleetwood vs. Zach Johnson, 1:37 p.m.

Anything interesting jump out at you?  Reed v. Dufner perhaps for those that prefer their players avoid the gym...  Day v. Perez might be a good early-week marker for whether the holder will be  a factor this year.  But I don't think if you tried for the least appealing schedule that you could do better.

Now, please don't get me wrong, it's still elite players going head-to-head, so the story lines will come.  And a few of the show ponies will inevitably lose today, making Thursday and Friday do-or-die....

We also have two odes to match-play to share, the first being this quote atop Shack's blog today:

It is a game in which the whole temperamental strength of one side is hurled against the strength of the other, and the two human natures are pressing bitterly and relentlessly adjacent each other from the first moment of the game to the last. IT is the whole man, mind and body. That is the meaning of the temperamental factor in golf, and that is why a great match at golf is great indeed. 

HENRY LEACH on match play

 Indeed.

Jordan Spieth apparently had some interesting things to say about the format.  I say apparently because that Shackelford guy made quite the mess of the links in this post.  I know, it's so furstrating when he goes all human on us, but the quotes are worth it:

This tournament is difficult to win because you can't shoot 6-under seven times in a row.

Nobody does it. So your days where you maybe shoot 1, 2-under, your off days need to be 1 or 2-under, for one thing. And when that happens you hope you meet an opponent who is around the same. 

In order to win a match play event, which I've done going back to U.S. Juniors, you've got to squeak out one or two wins where that wasn't very pretty. And that's kind of how it works in this event. Guys aren't running away from it. And you don't get lucky with the guy across from you not playing his best. You meet a guy when he's playing great and you're playing great and you have to win that match. And then if you're off, if they're a little off, you have to find something in you that allows win it.

True that....  though one or two might not be sufficient....  Interestingly, he's still ruing his loss to Louis last year:

You're only playing against one other guy. Play off of him. Take chances where you need to, but back off where you need to.

And I maybe got a little bit too aggressive mentally against Louis. And he's a very difficult player to play match play, such a beautiful swing, a great driver of the golf ball, makes you think you have to do more than you really need to do.

That's the kind of reaction I'd expect from someone in the B-Flight of the club championship, not an elite Tour player.....

But Jordan has more:

"I think if you went around and asked everybody, they would thoroughly enjoy more match play," Spieth told the European Tour. "I think it would be a lot of fun if a major

championship took on match play.

"I don't know how exactly you would do the format, maybe like this (the WGC). I think they used to do that way back. 

"I think people really enjoy playing here. I think if it was every week that may change, but the fact that it's a change of pace and you get the opportunity to take chances and play aggressive is something the guys embrace."

Wow, he's crazier than I am.... I love the thought, but even I realize its utter impracticability.   remember Bobby Jones?  He thrived in an era of match-play, but avoided events where the matches were contested over eighteen holes.  Too much of a crapshoot....  So, how you going to take a major's field of 156 players and get them through 36-hole matches?  Got a month free on the calendar?

Our Survey Said.... - SI/Golf.com released their anonymous poll of Tour players, and....well, how about we come up with some better questions?  There's some good stuff, but it really could be so much more interesting.  

OK, so let's see what's of interest:

What's the worst course on the current PGA Tour schedule? 

TPC Four Seasons Resort (Byron Nelson): 14%
TPC New Orleans (Zurich Classic): 12%
Torrey Pines (Farmer's Insurance Open): 10%
TPC San Antonio (Valero Texas Open): 4%
PGA National – Champion (Honda Classic): 4%
TPC Summerlin (Shriners): 4%
Waialae Country Club (Sony Open): 4%
None: 10%
Don't know/no comment: 16%
Other: 22%

Loose lips: "They're all good. It just comes down to whichever one you don't like."
"It has to be one of the 17 TPC couses we play right in the middle of the season."
"There are no bad courses. Except Torrey Pines."
"We're pretty spoiled. It's hard to come up with one."

First gripe:  I like this question, of course, but why wouldn't you also ask them to opine on the best course on Tour?

I'm a bit surprised at the animus towards Torrey, but given that its actually two courses, is it too much to expect that we could separate the two?  As for that last guy that can't come up with a bad course on Tour, if Los Colinas and Pebble seem one and the same, perhaps you're in the wrong line of work?

Then there are the inevitable Tiger questions:

Will Tiger win another Tour event?*

YES: 66%
NO: 28%
Hope so: 6%
Loose lips: "I want to say yes."

Will Tiger win another major? 

NO: 72%
YES: 16%
Hope so: 8%
Don't know: 4%

Two-thirds think he'll win again?  Seems a little optimistic, no?   But what about that pesky asterisk?

(*This question was asked days before Woods withdrew from the Dubai Desert Classic in early February.)

 Why not just use the results from 2008?  They'd be just as valid as these....

Curious what they think about pace of play?

Who's the fastest player on Tour? 

Matt Every: 18%
Me: 18%
Matt Jones: 14%
Bill Haas: 8%
Colt Knost: 6%
Dustin Johnson: 4%
Other: 18%
Don't know/no comment: 14% 

And the slowest?
Ben Crane: 21%
Kevin Na: 17%
Jason Day: 11%
Jordan Spieth: 8%
Andrew Loupe: 4%
Other: 19%
Don't know/no comment: 20% 

Loose lips: "Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Ben Crane, the list goes on and on."
"There's a whole group of players. It's hard to single one out."
"Everyone."
"Ben Crane. Love you, man, sorry!"

Funny that "Me" didn't show up in the second question....  But did Ben Crane himself participate in the survey?

Does the modern ball fly too far?

Best part here are the comments:

Loose lips: "Not mine!"
"New technology is closing the gap. Everyone can hit it far and straight now, with a softer touch."
"We're stuck. We need to either make courses longer or the ball shorter."
"For Dustin Johnson, yes."
"Hell yeah! And I'm a short hitter.""No. when the ball goes far, it's more fun."

Not mine?  Maybe Ben Crane did participate.....

This one was certainly a surprise, at least the margin:

Who puts on a better tournament: PGA of America or USGA? 

PGA OF AMERICA: 74%
USGA: 4%
Neither: 8%
Don't know/no comment: 14% 

Loose lips: "There are less antics with the PGA of America."
"That's a tough one. It depends on the event and site."

Well, the last two Opens have been troubling..... but the scary part is that this is before anyone gets to Erin Hills.

On a subject of concern to me, I find the responses from our pampered snowflakes more than  abit troubling:

Are you concerned that players are taking PEDs that are undetectable through a urine test? 

NO: 84%
YES: 16% 

Loose lips: "They might be, but I'm not worried about it."
"They are, but I'm not concerned." 

Should the PGA Tour conduct blood testing? 

NO: 58%
YES: 34%
Don't care/no comment: 8% 

Loose lips: "Yes. It should be a proper test."
"It would be easier that way."
"I think we're going to, aren't we?"
"If we're looking for PEDs that aren't detectable in a urine test, we have to."
"Yes, if we're serious about testing for PEDs."

Should the PGA Tour publicize its disciplinary actions against players?

Loose lips: "No. We have the public's trust. Why mess with that?"
"It depends what it's for."
"One hundred percent YES."
"No. They've got to protect our image."

Here's a thought for that last guy....  How about you protect your own damn image?