It's not you, it's me... Just didn't feel the need to watch any golf this weekend, though much enjoyed being out there myself.
If At First... - The hard-luck kid finally breaks through:
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Kevin Chappell made an 8-foot putt on the final hole to win the Valero Texas Open by one stroke on Sunday.
Chappell had a 4-under 68 in the final round to finish at 12 under for the tournament, edging Brooks Koepka at TPC San Antonio to earn his first PGA Tour victory in his 180th career start.
Koepka, a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team last year, was looking for his second PGA Tour win. He had the best round of the day at 7-under 65. Before Chappell came down the 18th hole, Koepka had birdied the hole with a 3-foot putt to tie him.
Chappell had a fine amateur resume in in his prior 180 starts had no shortage of opportunities to break through, it just never happened. He always seemed like DJ's Mini-Me to me, but perhaps I'm being a tad harsh...
The Tour Confidential panel took a shot at the subject and, well, sometimes the predictable answers are the right ones:
Ritter: Because it's tough to win on the PGA Tour! Also, his putting tended to crack on Sundays. It was fitting that it came down to an eight-footer, and it was great to see him jar it. That was also one of my favorite 72nd-hole celebrations of the season.
Shipnuck: Let's not give Chappell a full pass here—he made plenty of mistakes in crunch time when he was in position to win in the past. But kudos to him for learning from them and finally getting it done.
In other strange doings, Dominic Bozelli almost made a most unusual ace:
The rookie almost pulled off the trick on TPC San Antonio's 318-yard 17th hole, hitting his tee shot to one INCH. Unfortunately, there wasn't video of Bozzelli's incredible close call, but here's what it looked like on PGA Tour Shot Tracker:
But alas, neither could quite pull off an unlikely hole-in-one on Saturday, meaning Andrew Magee remains the only player in PGA Tour history to record an albatross on a par 4. Magee made his ace at the 2001 FBR Open on the 17th hole at TPC Scottsdale, banking in his tee shot off the putter of Steve Pate, who was on the green in the group ahead.
As you might have guessed, your humble correspondent's brain is stocked full of useless information, including the fact that Magee's ace actually caromed off the putter of Tom Byrum, seemingly confirmed here.
In other curious news, I had no idea that T.C. Chen was in the field...
The Tiger in Winter - Hank Haney took time out from offering you free tips in adding distance to opine on a certain former student of his... whether he should or not might be the most interesting question.
“I don’t buy a lot of these theories that people have," Haney said. "I don’t buy that...thisis the end all be all for him, coming back and beating Nicklaus’ record. That’s never gonna happen. I mean, come on people, get real."
Haney went on to explain that he does believe Woods is capable of winning again, if he can return to the game for an extended period of time. "I'll never give up on that part," he said. The problem? "I don’t believe Tiger is that enthralled by this whole comeback idea. [The media] believe that he's got this burning desire to come back and play. I don't think he does."
I guess, per Hank, he hears the siren call of Call of Duty....
I'm guessing it's more complicated than that... Shall we let the so-called experts have a go at this one before I settle the debate?
Ritter: It all depends on how badly Tiger wants to go through another lengthy rehab to get back out there. My sense is that he's more at peace with his life off the course and doesn't burn to compete like he once did. I do think we'll see him in PGA Tour fields from time to time, starting in 2018, but his days as a threat to win are over.
Bamberger: His what-if is up to him. He can have more impact on the game in the next 40 years than he did in the last 20.Wood: I hope not, but it's more and more concerning. If it is, I hope everyone who got to witness this guy play golf when he was the real Tiger Woods knows how lucky we've all been. Did you get to see Babe Ruth hit home runs? Cy Young pitch? Jim Brown play football? Shakespeare write a play? Mozart compose a symphony? Well, no, but we got to see Tiger Woods take golf to a level it's never been before. Jack may finish with more majors, but the golf Tiger Woods played when he was THAT Tiger Woods was the finest golf ever played—the highest level ever attained in this sport. So I'll keep hoping for one more run until he says goodbye to the game himself.
Tiger has never let us in, even in his book, so we should probably all stop pretending that we understand his psyche. Tiger has essentially been a professional golfer since he was about 12 years old, and that takes a toll...
I think he has little choice but to rehab as if he can make it back, because that will be necessary to have any kind of normal life. But I've always guessed that the hardest part of the comebacks has been the sucking at golf part... Most golfers as they age lose their edge at the margins, a three-footer here and there... Tiger has gone out and stunk up the joint in front of cameras, struggling to break 80. Everyone on site knew he would withdraw in Dubai because the wind kicked up and he would have looked foolish out there, whether or not he could have physically played.
That's why Josh's prediction of him showing up in Tour fields from time to time seems like a very unlikely scenario to me.... He might well push for one more go, but he's less likely than jack to take to being a ceremonial golfer.
But Bams is seeing something there that I don't.... Tiger didn't exactly grow the game when he was Tiger, what is Mike expecting from him in those forty years? I'll concede that he's showing a little more as a golf architect than I expected, embracing playability and short courses, and he played well with others at the Ryder Cup. But he's not Jack or Arnie by temperament, and I have a good deal of trouble seeing him as the game's global ambassador. he'll do what he needs, I suppose, to stay relevant, but that seems about all.... Am I missing something?
As for this Joel Beall column, it's not that he's wrong, just quite a bit late:
Willie Mays' remarkable 22-year-career cannot be encapsulated without mention of his final two seasons, especially as the indelible image of Mays falling down in the World Series has become the go-to comparison for any athlete that's stayed past their prime. (One that was conjured after Woods hit three balls into the water at Congressional last summer.) Evander Holyfield, at 42 years old, was banned in 2006 from boxing in New York due to diminishing skills; his nine bouts following the decision did little to refute that stance, slowly but surely deteriorating his standing in the sport. Brett Favre's annual retirement waffling -- coupled with a nightmarish final season and allegations of workplace misconduct -- turned one of the NFL most popular personalities into a punchline.
But I think the answer to his question is no, he's not tarnishing his reputation.... There's always a generational aspect to these things, but the difference here is we've got a video record of his greatness, and not the Arnie record of him walking up to the green or throwing his visor in black-and-white. But 18-hole high def coverage, and guys like Feherty and Phil talking about the amazing things he did out there that no one else could....
And with the exception of that strange interlude of chipping yips, this is his body deserting him.... the comebacks are virtually all upside, the fourteen majors don't go away.
Sky, Still Not Falling - No doubt you read this recent post, a continuing series, of gold is dying nonsense, which admittedly was far more noteworthy for it's lapses in logic and profound misunderstanding of the game it was pronouncing dead. The National Golf Foundation is the source of most data on participation rates, and it's recently published data of a more nuanced nature. For instance, this seems encouraging:
While the latest research indicates a modest 1.2% decline in on-course participation –dipping to 23.8 million (age 6+ who played at least once) in 2016 from 24.1 million in 2015, commitment to the sport in many respects is more evident than ever before. The number of committed golfers – a group that accounts for approximately 95% of all rounds-played and overall spending – rose for the first time in five years, from 19.5 million to 20.1 million.
It's those committed golfers that keep courses and retailers solvent... Now, of course these folks are "literally dying", so the beast needs to be fed:
The number of people who say they are “very interested” in taking up golf has doubled over the past five years, growing at an annual rate of nearly 15%. In addition to the 12.8 million non-golfers who said they’re very interested in playing golf, there are another 27.8 million who responded they’re “somewhat interested” in taking up the game. That increase has driven growth in the number of beginning golfers, with those who played on a golf course for the first time jumping to 2.5 million in 2016 from 1.5 million in 2011.
Now they also measure off-course participation, which seems to be mostly TopGolf, leading to this rather curious analysis:
Driven primarily by the popularity and growth of Topgolf, a non-traditional form of golf entertainment, there were an estimated 20 million off-course participants in 2016. Of those, 8.2 million didn’t play on a golf course.
I've never believed that TopGolf would convert many into golfers, though I also can't see any downside.... People having fun with a golf club in their hand can't be bad, can it?
We're a niche sport with stable participation rates.... Do we have challenges attracting new players? believe me, every time I pay my club bill it becomes blindingly apparent to me the nature of those challenges....
Zurich Ahead - Just promise there will be no lie detector tests.... The question answers itself, in the sense that we're talking about an event that was mostly a black hole on the calendar. Back to the TC guys:
Sens: I like the shake-up, especially the addition of alternate shot, which add the kind of playing-for-your-partner pressure that we don't see enough of. I was hoping Billy Mayfair and Aaron Baddeley would team up, just so I could say, "Those guys may fare badly." But terrible puns aside, for sure purity of ball-striking, I'll have my eye on Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.
Ritter: I'm excited about the new format with or without awful puns, and am hopeful the Zurich will inspire more events to shake it up. (How about a coed tournament?) For pairings, I think Bubba-J.B. Holmes could be dangerous.
Billy Mayfair? I'm all for bad puns, but the statute of limitations has expired on that name....
But I didn't realize these guys were gonna team up:
Wood: I don't know if they qualify as a "sleeper" pick, but the Branden Grace/Louis Oosthuizen pairing is intriguing to me. They were absolutely unbeatable as a team at the last Presidents Cup in Korea, and I think they'll relish another shot at competing together. As far as pure excitement it would be hard to ignore Stenson/Rose or Day/Fowler. I'm personally disappointed we won't be playing. I think the format change is fantastic and a breath of fresh air for the Tour. We were originally scheduled to play, but our partner fell on some stairs in Augusta and won't be back until the following week. I wonder if I can sue for lost wages—just kidding, DJ! Get well and we'll see you soon.
I think you should sue the lessor of the property..... I think it makes it an interesting week, so mission accomplished.
I Lied - My absolute favorite moment from the Texas Valero Open:
Charlie being Charlie....
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