Tuesday, April 18, 2017

'Dis & 'Dat

An odd melange for you this morning....

The 'Duf Abides Offends - Twitter has blown up, but your humble correspondent just flat-out missed it.... Missed what?  An emotional outburst from the reliably placid Jason Dufner that has folks demanding his head.  Here's what the critics are saying:
Even Curmudgeonly James Corrigan gets in on the fun:
Ooops, wrong tweet, though on the same subject.  Here's the full 140-character version:

Here are Geoff's thoughts (and he's got the video if you haven't seen it already):
While he didn't spoil the otherwise pleasant and satisfying RBC Heritage final round, Jason Dufner did open a few more eyes to a sour attitude that has lingered well past the Sell By date for someone with so much talent. 
His plight is especially perplexing given how much fans want to root for him and media wants to hear from the 2013 PGA Champion, whose dry wit and insights would be welcomed if he were not on a media blackout for two years running now.
 Alex Miceli is also out for....errr....blood:
Dufner instead walks the fairways every week as if someone were drawing blood from his veins, lifeless and without purpose. 
That’s his prerogative, but most players understand that professional golf is entertainment, so they do what they can to provide fans with excitement and enjoyment.
I agree it's not a good look and, were I Duf's caddie, I'd perhaps be updating the CV.  But I'm having trouble working my way to that toxic level of outrage of the Twitterati, perhaps because I've been mostly immune to the charms of The Duf.... As I understand his appeal, it's the flatlining lack of emotion to both the good and bad that happen on a golf course, so isn't this minimalist hissy fit playing to type?

Employee No. 2, who has long adored The Duf, thinks he tripped....yeah, that's the ticket.

John Wesley Bryan - Quite the meteoric rise for the young man, as noted by Kyle Porter at CBS:
Wesley Bryan is ranked No. 37 in the Official World Golf Rankings on Monday after his win at the RBC Heritage by one stroke over Luke Donald. He is ranked ahead of two-time major winner Martin Kaymer, Bill Haas, Lee Westwood, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk and Jason Dufner.

One month ago, Bryan was ranked No. 72. Three months ago, he was No. 134. One year ago, he was No. 364. At the beginning of February 2016, he was No. 1,127. 
Right now, the No. 1,127 golfer in the world is a guy by the name of Daehyun Kim. So how does one go from outside the top 1,100 in the world to the No. 37 golfer who will now be invited to all the WGCs, the Players Championship and all the majors? As is so often the answer in golf: Play better.
I do wish he had suggested that last bit earlier...  Here it is in visual form:


Anyone remember who that Keegan Bradley fellow was?

Now I do have a small quibble with this, that seems highly irregular:
Wesley Bryan said he "threw up a little in my mouth" down the closing stretch of Sunday's RBC Heritage. We're guessing he might be experiencing the same sensation Monday morning. 
For Bryan, who grabbed his first PGA Tour title at Hilton Head, decided to take his victory lap south of the border Sunday night with a trip to Taco Bell.
C'mon, you can't tell me there isn't a Waffle House near Hilton Head. 

Notes From the Amateur Game - A couple of seemingly unrelated stories that I think are, in fact, linked...

First, per Jim Nugent at The Global Golf Post, the USGA has rescinded its commitment yo allocating two slots on the Walker Cup team for Mid-amateurs, those 25 and older.  GGP is an E-Mag, and therefore unexcerptable for those with my minimalist technical capabilities, but Geoff applauded the move:
There is some irony in yet another impeccably-timed USGA move (given that 26-year-
WC Captain Spider Miller
old Stewart Hagestad was low amateur at the Masters and may be America's top amateur right now). 
Given the depleted college ranks this year, the 2017 team has a chance to see at least two mid-ams without the requirement. Or maybe more.
While I get that reaction, ultimately the requirement suggested that mid-ams needed help making the team. But without that crutch the mid-amateurs who make the team will actually receive even more respect. They will stand out less as recipients of a special exemption, and fit in more naturally as U.S. Walker Cup team members.
Of course there had to be some whining from the protected class:
That prompted passionate responses on social media from 2015 Walker Cupper Scott Harvey, who tweeted that it was “very, very sad” for mid-ams, and fellow mid-am Patrick Christovich, who said that the “USGA is probably a big fan of the One-and-done college basketball rule too…Support the ‘Real Amateurs’ and the game will grow.”
Do it for the children....

It's a friendly competition, but it's still a competition.  And any time you undermine your ability to compete, the results may not be those anticipated. 

Here's our second item:
Jeremy Paul will leave school early, as the Colorado senior announced Monday that he has decided to turn professional ahead of this week’s Web.com Tour event.

Paul, of Viernheim, Germany, previously made it the final stage of 2016 Web.com Tour Q-School after passing through the first two stages and was in position to earn his tour card there by finishing in the top 45 and ties. But Paul closed in 3-over 75 to drop 46 spots to a tie for 72nd.

“Jeremy has determined turning pro at this time is in the best interest for his budding professional golf career,” Colorado head coach Roy Edwards said in a release. “We respect his decision. He has a tremendous future in front of him.”
The PGA Tour has significantly damaged the amateur game through the changes in its qualification process.  It's requirement that talented young players endure a year of indentured servitude on its developmental tour incentivizes them to leave the amateur game early.

One of the primary reasons to defer that is to play on a Walker Cup team, which is a cherished memory for so many of the greats of the game.  Now the USGA doesn't seem to have previously gotten this, maintaining a secretive selection process that sows confusion and and with the previous affirmative action policy the makes a top-ranked amateur even more uncertain as to whether he'll be selected....

Given the great venues ahead (LACC, Seminole and the MOAV, Cypress Point), I'm delighted to see the USGA field the strongest team possible.  Now, does anyone have Jay Monahn's cell phone number?

Quick Hits - People seem surprised by this, but I don't get why:


You were expecting what, Taco Bell?

I do need to get here, post haste:


That's quite spectacular for sure, but I'm guessing it took God a few centuries to get it just as he wanted it...

Don't mess with Texas:
With the Masters in the rearview mirror, it's natural to look ahead to the U.S. Open or
Players Championship, but the most intriguing tournament in the upcoming schedule is the Zurich Classic and its new team format. 
And the field is getting even better. 
That event received an entry from a heavy-hitting Texan duo today: Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer. The announcement was made public on the tournament’s social media accounts Friday morning. Spieth and Palmer join the likes of Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day, and Brooks and Chase Koepka, among others. The Zurich now includes four of the top six players in the world ranking.
Full listing of teams here.  Happy to see Team Cheesehead is taking their act on the road, but really smart of the Zurich folks to get there before other second tier events.  The guys will love the change of pace, and the networks will have lots of good audio.

My favorite header of the day:
Fans were asked how they'd improve golf. Their answers are horrifying
Whadja expect?  They're golf fans, their standards have been systematically lowered.....

My favorite golf photo of the week:


That's Edoardo Molinari, long MIA, after winning the Euro Tour's Trophee Hassan II in Morocco....

We have a selection of trick shots for you, many of the epic fail variety....  We have this compilation courtesy of reader Mark W.  You'll hate yourself for laughing, but laugh you will.

This one is oh-so-predictable, but I'll confess to being slightly curious as to the process by which they got the ball teed up.

Then there's Swift Justice II....

And a timely collection of greatest hits from the Bryan Brothers....  Anyone know what's become of them?

Oh, and Martin Kaymer tries to get creative.... alas, that works better off a stone wall.

And this week in curious gear... This from Cobra is giving me, well, there's no other way to put it, a woodie:


I've often liked the look of retro clubs, but this does nothing for me.

And the new Bat Attack Putter from PXG:



The face-balanced Bat Attack putter comes standard with 4 degrees of loft, a lie angle of 70 degrees and costs $550.
Of course it does....
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