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?